RAIDS FROM AIR

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22845, 28 September 1937, Page 9

RAIDS FROM AIR

CIVILIAN CASUALTIES - ; I 7563 KILLED TO DATE DENIAL BY JAPANESE (Received September 28, 1.25 a.m.) SHANGHAI. Sept. 77 Japanese bombers dropped a dozen 6001b. bombs, the largest dropped yet, near the Shanghai North station. The explosions rocked the entire city. The Japanese claim to have made three raids on Nanking to-day and to have destroyed a sulphuric acid plant and damaged an aeroplane works, which has British affiliations. The collation of reports shows that 7563 Chinese civilians so far have been killed in raids on 87 cities and towns.

A Japanese spokesman contends that the total is exaggerated and that the largest number of casualties of any raid on Canton was only 20.

BOYCOTT ADVOCATED LONDON NEWSPAPER ADVICE GIVEN TO . READERS (Received September 2Sj X a.m.) LONDON, Sept. 27 In addition to a front page panel enclosing the words "Boycott Japanese Goods,"- the News Chronicle publishes a list of articles imported from Japan ;and says:— "Bead it, and if you want to make your protest felt, determine to ban all Japanese goods when shopping."

BOMBING OF NANKING JAPANESE JUSTIFICATION / ••• ; ' • • .. V , . CASE MADE IN TOKIO PRESS (Received September 28, V 1 a.m.) Times Cable . LONDON, Sept.'' 27 The Tokio correspondent of the Times says the Japanese press provides an answer to the question of the ruthless bombing of Nanking, which it says is regarded'as the focus of the Chinese defences. It states that, if the administration is physically destroyed and the Government driven out, the fragile Chinese unity might rapidly disintegrate and Japan's task be simplified. Such a result is worth thfc risk of foreign complications. > The Shanghai correspondent of the Times reports that the bombings have given the elegant city of Nanking the appearance of the face of the moon, but officialdom, in scientifically constructed dug-outs, has weathered the storm and the Government's equanimity is not disturbed.