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time before any of them get back now. And what a Nanking they will see.

On Sunday 11th, I was busy at my desk as Director of the Safety zone all day long. We were using the former Resi- dence of General Chang Chun, recently Minister of Foreign Af- fairs, as headquarters, so were very comfortably fixed and, iincidentally had one of the best bomb proof dug-outs in all Nanking.

Airplanes had been over us almost constantly for the last two days but no one heeded them now and the shell fire had been terrific. The wall had been breeched and the damage in the southern part of the city was tremendous. No one will ever know what the Chinese casualties were but they must have been enormous. The Japanese say they themselves lost forty thousand men in taking Nanking. Soldiers streamed through the city from the south many of them passing through the Zone, but they were well behaved and orderly. General Tang asked our assistance in arranging a truce with the Japa- nese and Mr. Sperling agreed to take a flag of truce and mes- sage but it was already too late. He fled that evening and as soon as the news got out, disorganisation became general. There was panic as they made for the gate of Hsiakwan and the river. The road for miles was strewn with the equipment they cast away, rifles, ammunition, belts, uniforms, cars, trucks-- everything in the way of army impediments. Trucks and cars jammed were overturned and caught fire, at the gate more cars jammed and were burned -- a terrible holocaust and the dead

lay feet deep. The gate blocked, terror mad soldiers scaled the wall and let themselves down on the other side with ropes, putties, and belts tied together, clothing torn to strips. Many fell and were killed. But at the river was perhaps the most appalling scene of all. A fleet of junks were there. It was totally inadequate for the hords that were now in & frenzy to cross to the north side. The overcrowded junks capsized -- then sank thousands drowned. Other thousands tried to make rafts of the lumber on the river front, only to meet the same fate. Some thousands must have succeeded in getting away, but many of them were probably bombed by Japanese planes a day or two later.

One small detail of three companies rallied under their officers, crossed the San Chia Ho, three miles up river and tried to attack the Japanese forces that were coming from that direction. Only one seems to have succeeded in getting back. He happened to be the brother of a friend of mine and appeared in my office the next morning to report the story. A fellow officer had drowned while the two of them were try- ing to swim & small tributary to the Yangtse which they had crossed before on rafts, and before caylight he had managed

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