SHOPPERS PANIC

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25736, 6 January 1945, Page 5

SHOPPERS PANIC

VOLLEY OF MORTAR BOMBS LONDON, Jan. 4. Hundreds of people in a morning shop crowd panicked when an E.L.A.S. mortar threw six bombs within minutes into Constitution square, reports the British United Press correspondent in Athens. The volley exploded before the people could find cover from flying fragments, which hit the sides of the Grand Bretagne Hotel, which is British headquarters. Two British officers and seven civilians were killed. , British artillery last night and early to-day fired 1000 rounds against the roads leading into Athens from the north. The artillery laid down two smokescreens and fired 300 shells containing safe conduct pamphlets, telling E.L.A.S. troops that the British are now facing them eveiwwhere. A senior British officer directly connected with operations in Athens and Attica, addressing press correspondents to-day, expressed concern at the reaction of British troops, who, on receiving mail from Britain, generally feel that what they are doing in Greece is seen in a wrong light at home. The officer said: “My sole object in Athens is to restore law and order, and see that every man not authorised to bear arms is deprived of them. The British operations in Athens are governed by two factors. The first is that we are fighting right in the middle of the civil population, and nobody wants to hurt a single innocent civilian; the second is that the number of troops needed depends more on the number of houses in a given district than the number of enemy troops in the district. We have been most careful to protect the population. As we liberate them food is distributed, and there is no doubt about their gratitude to us.”