REPRISAL ATTACKS

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 67, Issue 220, 30 June 1947, Page 3

REPRISAL ATTACKS

BRITISH SOLDIERS KILLED REVENGE BY STERN GANG (N.Z. Press Association —Copyright.) JERUSALEM, June 29. Four British soldiers were killed and three wounded in attacks by Jewish terrorists in TelAviv and last night. Terrorists hiding in a dark alley in Tel-Aviv opened fire with sub-machine-guns on four soldiers, who never had a chance to draw their guns. Two soldiers were killed and two seriously wounded, both of whom died later.

The terrorists escaped in a car. They are believed to have been members of the Stern Gang avenging the death of Alexander Rubowitz, whose disappearance from Palestine on May G is linked with the arrest and escape from custody of Major “Roy Farran.

Sirens sounded in Tel-Aviv five minutes after the attack when tanks and armoured cars began rushing through the streets firing sporadically. The brigadier commanding the First Infantry Division ordered the shooting to •stop after a. Jewish woman had been nicked in a leg with a. stray shot. The army invoked “operation purple” which freezes all off duty troops in their quarters. In Haifa a taxi drove up to Astorie cafe and one Jewish gunman fired a Sten gun through a window, wounding three British officers and the Jewish barman. One British officer died from his injuries. The British casualties in Palestine since January are 17 dead and 28 injured. Troops and police raided entertainment places at Tel-Aviv last night and made a number of arrests.

Anonymous telephone callers last, night told Tel-Aviv newspapers: “We the Stern Gang, made to-night’s attacks in revenge for Rubowitz.” The United Nations inquiry commission announced that it recommended oral hearing for nine organisations, including the Communist Party in Palestine, the Israel World Organisation, the Jewish Agency and the General Federation of Jewish Labour in Palestine.

It is reported from Beirut that the Lebanese and Syrian Governments declined an invitation from the commission to send delegates to Jerusalem.

SHOTS FIRED AT SOLDIERS ATTACKED WHILE BATHING (Rec. 9.40) JERUSALEM, June 29. Jewish terrorists attacked and wounded three British soldiers and one officer bathing on a beach near Herxlia, north of Tel-Aviv. The wounded men crawled to their weapons and returned the fire.

A shot fired from a taxi in Haifa Avounded a soldier in the leg.

MAJOR FARRAN SURRENDERS WALKS BACK INTO BARRACKS (Rec. 10.35) JERUSALEM, June 20. Major Farran has surrendered. Far ran escaped on June 6 from Allenby Barracks, where he was in custody in connection with the disappearance of the Jewish youth Robowitz. Farran, who won the D. 5.0., M.C., and two Bars, the Croix de Guerre and the United States Legion of Merit, while serving with Royal Marine commandos, walked back to-day into barracks where he was confined after extradition from Syria.

The British put police dogs on his trail after his escape, and circulated liis description in Palestine and surrounding countries.