FO371-23514 — Page 64

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circled round again and opened machine-gun fire on to

refugees going along the railway, killing as far as is known

three Chinese. There can be no doubt of this machine-gun

attack, not only does medical evidence shew that three

Chinese were killed and one wounded by bullets, but

five empty cartridges were afterwards picked up.

The third machine of this flight detached

itself when over Crest Hill and attacked a train standing

on the railway at about Lo Wu Brickworks (1479) a mile

inside British territory. Two separate attacks were

made, one bomb being dropped each time: they both fell

on the embankment and caused considerable damage to the

train, though as far as can be ascertained there were

no casualties. The train was part of the normal daily

service on the railway.

The aeroplanes in previous reports were said

to be "probably type 96", but evidence obtained since

indicates they were in fact reconnaissance planes "type 97".

All the attacks were made from a height of about

500 feet and it is estimated that the bombs used were of

a weight of about 60 Kilos. The attacks were seen by

His Excellency the Governor and by officers of the

2nd Battalion the Royal Scots who were in Lo Wu Camp

at the time.

At the spot where the attacks were made the

frontier is particularly clearly defined: it is crossed

here by the only railway in this part of the country:

the frontier itself is the River Sham Chun, which is wider

than any other river in the neighbourhood and bends in a

peculiar "U" shape where it is crossed by the railway,

while the British Camp at Lo Wu could not have been

mistaken for a Chinese Camp, and as the whole formation

flew very near it, and some machines actually over it,

the Japanese airmen must have seen it.

The total casualties on British Territory

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amounted

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