SHOT BY SENTRY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24837, 10 February 1942, Page 5

SHOT BY SENTRY

TWO MEN AND A WOMAN CONTROVERSY OVER BEACH INCIDENT (Rec. 1 a.m.) SYDNEY, Feb. 9., The shooting of.two men and a woman by a sentry guarding one of Sydney’s well-known beaches is reported. The men and the woman went to the beach in darkness, following a visit to a night club. One bullet from the. sentry’s rifle wounded one man critically in the abdomen and wounded the other man in the foot and the woman in the thigh. The police took the sentry to the police station to obtain a statement and wanted to impound the rifle, but a military officer ordered the sentry back to his post with his rifle. In the ensuing controversy the police claim that until martial law is proclaimed police officers are justified in arresting any member of the forces, and say that the military officers exceeded their powers in demanding the release of the sentry involved. The army authorities replied that, in no circumstances, must a sentry allow himself to be disarmed, and added: “This is- war-time, and not peace-time manoeuvres, ■ and all wear ponS in times of war are ready foi 1 instant action.” The general opinion in army circles is that if the military authorities allowed civil action to be taken against the sentry in this case, no sentry in the future would fire a shot.