BRITISH PROTEST TO JAPAN

Evening Post, Volume CXXIV, Issue 50, 27 August 1937, Page 9

BRITISH PROTEST TO JAPAN

(Received August 27, 10 a.m.) LONDON, August 26. Britain has protested to Japan against the'attack on Sir Hughe Knatchbull-Hugessen.

LONDON SHOCKED

PEOPLE PUZZLED

REASON FOR INDISCRIMINATE ATTACKS

■ (British Official Wireless.) (Received August 27, 11 a.m.) RUGBY, August 26. The news of the attack upon and ttie wounding of the British Ambassador.,in China, which reached London in the middle of the forenoon, deeply shocked public opinion. Early editions of the evening, papers contained few details, as the messages from China were incomplete and conflicting. The public soon realised that there was no question of deliberate firing upon the British party, but the incident was stated to have occurred 50 miles from the scene of disorder's between Japanese and Chinese forces at Shanghai on the main road from Nanking, and as no state of war exists between ihe Chinese and Japanese Governments the people found it impossible to understand, what appeared to be indiscriminate attacks upon traffic on a great highway. An official communique indicates that the British Government is .seeking further information as to the circumstances of the deplorable occurrence. Press messages from Shanghai, where the wounded Ambassador was driven as soon as his wound had been temporarily dressed, report that Sir Hughe Knatchbull-Hugessen has undergone two blood transfusions. His condition, according to one report, was surprisingly encouraging in view of the serious nature of the wound, but the outcome was bound to be uncertain for at least 24 hours. Many Chinese officials have called at the hospital to express their sympathy. The messages also speak of expressions of condolence and regret on the part of the Japanese authorities. The incident, h\? created deep depression and anxiety among the foreign community in Shanghai. Lady Knatchbull-Hugessen, with her two daughters, is believed to have been on holiday at Peitaiho, in North China, where the British authorities immediately tried to get in touch with her.