GENERAL SHOT

Greymouth Evening Star, 11 February 1947, Page 7

GENERAL SHOT

ASSASSINATION IN POLA UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN FIRES REVOLVER BRITISH OFFICER VICTIM (Ree. 10.20 a.m.) LONDON, Feb. 10. The commander of the Thirteenth British Infantry Brigade, Brigadier R. W. M. de Winton, D.S.O. and Bar, was assassinated in Pola to-day. British General Hedquarters in Italy says he was inspecting troops when an unidentified woman of unknown nationality walked up to him, pulled a revolver from her handbag and shot him. She was immediately arrested. The Exchange Telegraph correspondent says an earlier attempt on de Winton’s life was made last week. It is understood that the woman who shot him is an Italian. Tension is high in Pola, which is one of the cities which Italy loses under the peace treaty, which was signed in Paris to-day.

ITALIAN PEOPLE LEAVING POLA LONDON, Feb. 9. ■ The Italian population of Pola, comprising 98 per cent, of the 33,000 inhabitants, is preparing to leave before Marshal Broz-Tito’s troops enter Pola, which is awarded to Jugoslavia by the Italian peace treaty, says the correspondent in Pola of the Associated Press. The Vatican and the Italian Government are assisting the evacuation and 5000.. persons have already left for Italy by sea. The Allied Military Government, which is remaining aloof, has guaranteed to assist only its own employees and the police to reach Italy. The inhabitants are taking all movable possessions. The motives behind the exodus are racial —hatred of Jugoslavs as Slavs, not as Communists. Only a few industrial workers in Communistorganised factories intend to remain. The Italians who are leaving allege excesses during the 45 days of the Jugoslav occupation of Pola in and June, 1945.