SPAIN: Companys & Co.

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By week's end, stubborn Anarchists still held many small Barcelona suburbs, but they had lost more than men. Luis Companys reshuffled his Cabinet, reduced the Anarchist membership to one, and took away from the party the important post of Minister of Defense, refilling it with the more moderate Antonio Sese, Socialist, who was then promptly killed by a stray bullet as he was leaving a Cabinet meeting.

Bilbao. With few reserves and only a handful of modern planes to oppose the air squadrons of Italy arid Germany, Bilbao's Basques fought grimly on last week, but fought a losing battle. City defenders were cheered mightily when two companies of Basques with a single anti-tank gun and a barrier of three logs was able to put to flight a group of 18 Italian tanks, but in general the tide was against them. Basque lines were forced back to the third ring of steel and concrete trenches defending Bilbao. A key to the city was pine-covered Mount Solluve which commands the entrance to Bilbao harbor. Planes, dropping the same incendiary bombs that destroyed Guernica (TIME, May 10), set fire to the forests, and a series of bloody bayonet charges cleared the rest of the Leftist strength off the mountaintop. Territory still controlled by the Bilbao government was only the city itself and a few suburbs.

Methodically, French and British warships continued to escort the evacuation of terrified, undernourished Bilbao children to Bordeaux. First shipload to reach La Pallice were hailed jubilantly by kindly French Communists who had prepared a feast with free catches donated by fishing boats, free bread from city bakeries. On the quayside they welcomed the Basque children with clenched fists and shouted choruses of the Internationale. Startled but pleased the Basque children shrilly sang back a Catholic hymn.