RESCUE ABANDONED

Chronicle (Levin), 22 April 1949, Page 5

RESCUE ABANDONED

SB1 ( N.Z.P.A. •

— Reuter ,

j m J- a - Chinese Giins Keep Warships From Crippied Sloop

, Copyright)

Reeeived Friday, 10-10 a,m, NANKING, April 21. Chinese Communist artillery fire on the Yangtze River today forced British warships to abandon their attempts to rescue the crippied sloop Ajnethyst, and they are returning to Shanghai, During the.day the casualty toll mpunted to 42 Navy men killed. Seventeen were killed on the Amethyst and nine on the Consort, while 15 are reported to have been killed on the cruiser London and one on the sloop Black Swan. The London and Black Swan were damaged in an attempt to rescue the Amethyst. They silenced a number of Communist gun ppsitions before withdrawing. An unofficial but reliable source in Shanghai* stated that the London suffered 15 dead and 17 wounded and the Black Swan' one dead. The

number of wounded on the' Black Swan is unavailable. The London has twelve holes on the port side and is well spattered by machine-gun bullets. The London's Chinese pilot is among those killed, The British Ambassador in Nanking, Sir Ralph Stevenson, this afternoon issued the following statement: "The London was unable to reach- the Amethyst owing to the continued heavy fire in the vicinity. It is evident, therefore, that the forees along the Yangtze have not received the desired instructions to desist from firing on British ships. It must accordingly be assumed that the approach to the authorities in Peiping has not been successful up to the present." Mr. Edward Youde, first secretary, has volunteered to try and establish contact with the headquarters of the Chinese Communist forces north of' Pu-kow in the hope of obtaining a cease ' fire, without which it is now evidently impossible to reach the wounded and give them adequate medical attention and relief.