“SUICIDE BATTALION”

Greymouth Evening Star, 1 November 1937, Page 7

“SUICIDE BATTALION”

ORDERED TO LEAVE POST DASH FOR SAFETY [BY CABLE —PRESS ASSN. —COPYRIGHT.] SHANGHAI, October 30. Heartened by a message from the commander of the Eighty-Eighth Chinese Army: “Shed your last drop of blood. I and all my comrades salute you,” the Chinese “Suicide Battalion” is still holding out with the loss of only a few men. It is stated that the Japanese do not intend to attack the warehouse, ostensibly owing to the danger to the adjacent British troops, and the risk of blowing the Chapei gasometer. The battalion’s position is almost unassailable by infantry. A Japanese naval attache declared: “Our patience is exhausted. We have done our utmost to spare the lives of the defenders in the true Samurai spirit, but must now make a final assault.” This threat has not shaken the Chinese, whose spirit is astonishing. When officers ordered the wounded to make their way to the International Settlement they refused to leave their comrades, whereupon the officers themselves carried them to safety and handed them over to the. British Red Cross. The defenders could easily escape to safety behind the British seven-foot barricade.

LATER. Acting on the ordersi of Marshal Chiang Kai-shek, who realised: that the defence would not fulfil any military purpose, the remnant of the “Suicide Battalion” abandoned the warehouse before dawn. The defenders ran the gauntlet of enemy machine- guns and searchlights, and, dribbling across the 20 yards of bullet-swept road, entered the British post, -where they laid down their arms. They were warmly ■ shaken by the hand and cheered by Brigadier P. A. D. Telfer-Smollett, the British commander, who paid a tribute to the gallantry of the Chinese. He superintended the taking over of the 400 rifles and 18 machine-guns and ammunition that they brought in. The evacuation occupied three hours, in ■which 377 men dashed over to safety. Six were killed and ten wounded. The Welsh Fusiliers assisted and gave first aid to the wounded. The Japanese have since occupied the warehouse.

SURVIVORS INTERNED. (Received November 1,2 p.m.) SHANGHAI, November 1. It is officially stated that two were killed and twenty-four wounded, when the doomed battalion dashed to safetv 377 of the original five hundred‘escaped alive, and were interned in the Western district, under a British guard. FOOD SUPPLIES. (Recd. November 1, 10.30 a.m.) LONDON, October 31. A Japanese naval communique savs: One hundred Chinese corpses were found in the warehouse occupied by the doomed battalion. It adds that an abundance of fresh food was also found. ‘ T J e party cannot suppress a feeling of displeasure at the Presence of the provisions, which must have been smuggled through the British defences.’’

FIRING ON ULSTERMEN. LONDON’, October 30. An eye-witness, describing the deaths at Shanghai, of Riflemen Howard, Mallon, and O’Toole, and the wounding of Riflemen Delaney, Maguire, and Downey, of the Ulster Rifles, by Japanese shell fire, states that a shell burst over the post close to the Soochow creek, where Mallon and Howard stood. The shrapnel struck Mallon in the back, killing him instantly. Howard was struck on the chest, and died soon afterwards. Maguire may lose a leg, but Delaney is badly wounded m the thigh, and Rifleman Tomlinson has been sent to the hospital with shell shock. O’Toole, who was off duty, was

killed inside a cafe, where a misdirect- r ed shell blew in the shopfront and kill- c ed two Chinese on the pavement, t O’Toole’s face was so disfigured that it was not known for some time who ( he was. A barmaid was wounded in c the face, and fled screaming from the t cafe. • . * The casualties were caused by a i Japanese battery three-quarters of a i mile distant opening fire, with the idea 1 of shelling the Shanghai-Hangchow railway. Fifty shells fell wide, but 1 many felll 500 yards within the Bn- < tish area, one directly on the British post, reducing it to a shambles. The Japanese ceased shelling when appraised of the casualties. TWO MORE DEAD. SHANGHAI, October 31. The Ulster riflemen, Delaney and McGuire, died to-day from their injuries. British military officials investigated the tragedy, and found that the shell had been fired by the Japanese, whereupon they advised the Japanese that they would be held responsible. THREE MORE WOUNDED. (Recd. November 1, 10.30 a.m.) SHANGHAI, October 31. During a heavy Japanese bombardment, three more Ulster riflemen, Lance-Corporal Dowey, Riflemen Leckie and Anderson, were wounded by a shell from a trench mortar striking Jessfield Road barracks, which later were completely evacuated. JOURNALISTS’ THRILL. ’ (Received November 1, 11.30 a.m.) > SHANGHAI, October 31. A journalist, W. Farmer, of the f “North China Daily News,” formerly I of a West Australian newspaper, to- - Finch, went on the roof early this - ge-ther with the news editor, A. P. , morning, spotting the Japanese attack - on the Chinese “Suicide Battalion.” A shell roared overhead, and fell into . i the Whangpoo. A second hit the Chartered Bank next door. Then both _ were blown off their feet by the ex- - plosion of another shell, which hit the 1 building. They remained recumbent i. while two others hit, after which they -, went below. Farmer w'as not hurt, but Finch was slightly wounded.

WEATHER DELAYS FIGHTING. SHANGHAI, October 29.1 The Japanese naval authorities have protested against British troops forcibly boarding Japanese launches in the Soochow creek. Eye-witnesses assert that the British did not board the launches, but stood aboard a hulk alongside to protect the Japanese from possible molestation. Furious fighting on the borders of the International Settlement has died down because of the bad weather. The Chinese continue to hold their lines. Rain has reduced flying to a minimum. ’ • • • JAPANESE CROSS CREEK. (Received November 1, noon.) SHANGHAI,- October 31. . The Japanese crossed Soochow creek at a point three miles west of the defence perimeter. The -British military authorities' say that the Jessfield Road posts have not been abandoned. IN THE NORTH. TIENTSIN, October 30.

The Japanese are rushing troops to North China in an effort to win a decisive victory before the Brussels Nine Power Conference. Kweihua, the former capital of Suiyan, is now the capital of a new autonomous State in Inner Mongolia embodying Chahara and Suiyuan, created under Japanese auspices. ’ It will be rechristened Hohogoto. The chief executive will be. Prince Yeh, who is 72 gears of age. . • ■ Japanese marines are driving the Chinese out of Guemoy Island. The new Puppet Inner Mongolian Republic is stated to be working smoothly under Japanese protection. “MOSCOW” TACTICS. (Received November 1,2 p.m.) TOKIO, October 31. • The Japanese are slowly penetrating in Shansi, but under conditions recalling Napoleon’s march on.. Moscow. The inhabitants laid waste the evacuated tracts, and removed all the food, preventing, the Japanese obtaining any supplies, on an exhausting advance. ANTI-BRITISH FEELING. TOKIO, October 30. The “Council on Current Affairs,” an unofficial body consisting of’industrialists and members of the Lower House, has passed a resolution appealing to the national movement to sever diplomatic relations with Great Britain, whom the manifesto accuses of failing to observe neutrality, pursuing an arrogant and insulting attitude towards Japan, consistently assisting China and inspiring the Brussels Conference. The movement is seeking to make articulate an undercurrent of hostility, which has recently become apparent. ANTI-COMMUNIST PACT. (Recd. November 1, 10.30 a.m.) TOKIO, October 31. “Asahi” understands that Italy is joining the German-Japanese antiComintern Pact. An official announcement is expected early in November. BOMBING OF TOWNS GENEVA, October 29. A Chinese Note to the League recounts further bombings of more than 20 defenceless towns, the machinegunning of civilians, the sinking of 200 fishing junks, and the loss of 5000 lives. i MEDICAL SUPPLIES [BRITISH OFFICIAL WIRELESS.] i RUGBY, October 29. The., first consignment of medicines and drugs, costing £BOOO, was to-day ordered by the Medical Supplies Committee of the Lord Mayor’s Fund for the Relief of Distress in China. It will be sent to China next week, and it will be followed immediately by dressings, surgical instruments, and prophylactic sera and vaccines. The sera and vaccines will probably be dispatched by air.

PRAYERS FOR PEACE

LONDON, October 29. Prayers in both the Chinese and Japanese tongues were heard in Westminster Abbey, at a festival of thanksgiving organised by the Anglican Communion in the Far East, in celebration of the Japanese Church’s jubilee and the Chinese Church’s silver jubilee. The Archbishop of Canterbury (Dr. Cosmo Gordon Lang), who presided, quoted a message from a member of the Chinese Church as follows: “I, as a loyal Chinese, hate the Japanese policy in China, but I shall continue working for a Sino-Japanese‘. Christian brotherhood.” The Primate added that such a spirit would enable Christianity to triumph over war.

CHINESE OFFICIAL MESSAGE ' WELLINGTON, November 1. The Chinese Consul has' received, the following cablegram from Nanking:— Japanese forces concentrated in an attack upon Nanziang, using heavy artillery planes. The infantry attack was alsc severe but the Chinese hold the line. There was little fighting on other fronts. Japanese planes are bombing Chinese positions in the western districts. Several Japanese attempts to pass Siaonanziang were. frustrated. The Chinese . command denies the Japanese accusations that the shells which killed the British soldiers were fired by Chinese forces. It is alleged that the Japanese intentionally fired, retaliating against the frustration..by the International Defence Forces ! of the Japanese attempt to attack the warehouse occupied by the “Suicide Battalion” from Soochow Creek.

AUSTRALIAN BOYCOTT. SYDNEY, October 31. The Council of Trades Unions hastens to declare that any direct action by labour bodies against Japanese ships is not contemplated. It says trades unionists’ families will be asked to refrain from purchasing Japanese goods. JAP. WOOL IMPORTS. (Received November 1, 8 a.m.) TOKIO, October 31. Wool importers have appointed a committee to negotiate with the Government for impot’ts.J.under the new regulations. It is understood that Japan may not be able to purchase the full agreed quota of 800,000 bales from Australia, but may permit the purchase of 500,000, and also fair quantities from New Zealand and South Africa.

NEW ZEALAND'S SHARE. AUCKLAND, November 1. A statement that it was the intention of the Japanese manufacturers to purchase about 100,000 bales of wool from New Zealand this season, was made‘by Mr. T. Asakawa, a passenger on the Niagara from Sydney. He is the head of the wool department of a firm which has a capital of £12,000,000. He said that prices had been rising in Japan, owing to the higher cost of material, and although there had been no change in labour costs in textile and other factories, it might be difficult to maintain the volume of production uffiich had, ; been reached in recent years. He estimated the recent rise in the price of cotton, artificial silk and woollen yarns at. about ten per cent.

“I think the struggle with China will have a big effect on Japan’s exports,” he said, “because China, in the past, has been a large purchaser of our manufactures.” Mr. Asakawa intends to investigate the prospects for the coming wool season in New Zealand.

N.Z. SCRAP IRON. ’ WELLINGTON, October 31. T The Tokio cablegram reporting some details of the interview with the Prime Minister (Mr. Savage) with a Japanese journalist, was brought under the Prime Minister’s notice. What transpired at the interview was explained by the Prime Minister who.said.he (old the Japanese pressman he'looked forward to the time when New Zelaand • Ministers tvould meet representatives of the Japanese, to find out what they could take from New Zealand, and what we could take from Japan, for it was better to do things -in that way,,'than to set up customs barriers between countries “As for the steel. industry,” added Mr. Savage, “I explained to the Japanese interviewer that already a .company had made overtures for its development in the Dominion, that we had tremendous quantities of iron ore, and that we had already been advised by our experts that if New Zealand intended to create a steel industry; its export of scrap iron had been overdone. It was for that reason the Government came to the decision to stop the export of scrap iron to any country.” --v—-------