ORDERS GIVEN

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20634, 9 December 1941, Page 9

ORDERS GIVEN

DEFENCE PLANS AMERICAN FORCES MR. HULL'S STRICTURES (Elec. Tel. Copyright—United Press Assn.) (Reed. Dec. 8, 3 p.m.) WASHINGTON, Dec. 7. The National Broadcasting Company at Honolulu reported that' an air battle had been going on for’- nearly three hours since the first attack. The Honolulu broadcaster announced: “The army and navy apparently now have the air and sea under control.” The first news of the attack came when a -private plane owner reported that he ’Had been ’machine-gunned by Japanese planes. His craft was damaged, but he managed -to land. He said the attackers came from the south.

President Roosevelt’s secretary, Mr. Stephen Early, said the attacks were made wholly without warning, when both nations were at peace and were delivered within an hour or .so of the time the Japanese envoys called at the State Department to deliver Japan’s reply' to the note of the United States’ Secretary of State, Mr. Cordell Hull. The Honolulu correspondent of the Associated Press of America reports that Japanese bombers scored hits at the Hickman Field military airport and another in Pearl Harbour, where they set oil tanks ablaze. The American anti-aircraft fire caused a terrific din. The sky was filled with American battle, craft. A further National Broadcasting Corporation broadcast from Honolulu states that the battleship Oklahoma was set on fire. It is reported without confirmation that one ship in Pearl Harbour is lying on its side .end four others were set on fire. Aerial dog fights are still in progress over Honolulu. White House said that naval reports from Hawaii indicated that heavy loss of life and damage resulted from the Japanese planes' early morning air attack. President Roosevelt has ordered the Army and Navy to carry out undisclosed orders prepared for the defence of | the United States. White House announced that a lumber-laden transport was torpedoed 1300 miles west of San Francisco. The State Department announces that Mr. Hull informed the Japanese envoys that the document presented by them was crowded with “infamous falsehoods and distortions.” After reading the Japanese reply, Mr. Hull said to the Japanese Ambassador, Admiral Nomura: “I must say that in all my conversations with you during the last nine months I have never uttered one word of untruth. This is absolutely borne out by the record. In all my 50 years of public service I have never seen a document more crowded with infamous falsehoods and distortions—and on a scale so huge. I had not imagined until to-day that any Government on this planet was capable of uttering them.” Mr. Roosevelt summoned an extraordinary meeting of the Cabinet to-night at 8.30 p.m., American eastern standard time. Congressional leaders were invited to attend a White House conference 30 minutes later. The National Broadcasting Corporation observer at Honolulu reported that 350 men were killed by a direct bomb hit on Hickman Field. The Shanghai correspondent of the United Press of America states that Japanese marines took over the bund after heavy gunfire had been heard across the Whangho River. A foreign gunboat, believed to be H.M.S. Petrel, was burned and sank while Japanese planes patrolled Shanghai. Mr. Early said he could not confirm the reports of a naval engagement off Hawaii. He added that secret service agents had been ordered to take all press credentials from Japanese correspondents ih Washington. The Federal Bhreau of Investigation announced that It was completely mobilised and was ready to deal with Japanese espionage and sabotage. The entire staff of the bureau was awaiting orders to round up Japanese aliens. The Army and Navy on the Pacific seaboard has sprung to a war basis.

White House announced that the island of Gaum has been attacked. The United Press of America quotes that reliable sources report that six Japanese planes were shot down and four submarines destroyed in the Hawaiian action. The United States Fleet steamed out of Pearl Harbour to-night. Eye-witnesses at Honolulu say that many of the planes attacking Oahu Island were shot down. White House announced that the navy reported sighting an unidentified squadron of planes over the island of Gaum.