CO129-571-4 Sino-Japanese War- compensation for damage to British rolling stock on Canton-Kowloon Railway by Japanese air... 7-1-1938 - 9-12-1938 — Page 12

JAPANESE AIR RAIDS ON CANTON-KOWLOON RAILWAY: report

of damage to rolling stock.

No. 169

(& 2 copies)

Embassy, Nanking (at Shanghai)

Foreign Office

(& 2 copies)

Hong Kong No. 106

No.160

No. 84

Air Attaché, Shanghai No.13 S.N.O. West River No. 31 Tokyo No. 7 (by safe hand)

British Consulate-General,

CANTON,

14th December, 1937.

12

Sir,

In continuation of my P/L despatch No. 168 of the

12th instant, relative to Japanese Air Raids on the

Canton-Kowloon Railway, I have the honour to transmit

herewith, for Your Excellency's information, copy of a

report submitted by Major A.H. Street, Engineer-in-Chief

of the Chinese Section of the Canton-Kowloon Railway,

giving particulars of the damage done to rolling stock

through aerial attack by Japanese planes between the 1st

and 11th December inclusive.

His Excellency

2. An increasing tendency on the part of the

Japanese planes to bomb and machine gun passenger trains

with scant regard for civilian lives is apparent.

Fortunately, however, in the cases reported by the

Engineer-in-Chief, there were no casualties as the

passengers had already taken refuge in the neighbouring

paddy fields.

3.

I understand that the Railway Company have now

decided to run only one passenger train a day from Canton

to Kowloon and vice versa, at 5.00 p.m. in order to

eliminate, as far as possible, any attack by Japanese

Sir Hughe Knatchbull-Hugessen, K.C.M.G.,

His Majesty's Ambassador,

British Embassy,

planes

Peking.