CONFUSION IN TOKIO

Evening Post, Volume CXXXIII, Issue 93, 21 April 1942, Page 5

CONFUSION IN TOKIO

ENEMY NERVOUSNESS REVEALED

(Rec. 12.30 p.m.) NEW YORK, April 20. Tokio official radio continued to put out contradictory reports of the air raids on Japan, the most notable being a discussion about 10 medium bombers, of which one was said to have been captured. This contrasted with previous reports that 60 bombers had participated in the raid. It was also interesting: in view of the first claims v that nine raiders were shot down. Moreover, the Japanese asserted that

an Allied naval force, including three carriers, appeared on April118 off the eastern coast of Japan, but fled immediately after launching the raiders. The most important developments apparently closely connected with the raids included the fact that the ViceMinisters and Cabinet were called together to discuss the damage sustained in the raids, remedial measures, and regulations for controlling rumours, which is a further indication of the acute nervousness throughout Japan over the possibility of new raids. Finally, the official spokesman, Tomokazu Hori, reflected the official anger in a tirade against America, calling the raids "barbarous attacks against innocent children." He accused the Americans of similar^atrocities in the Philippines and sneered at reports from America that the raids were a prelude to a general Allied offensive. Tokio .radio's, reference to medium bombers followed a description of them as North American B-25's and also said that the captured machine was forced down after raiding Tokio.