STRANGE INCIDENT IN ISLANDS

Dominion, Volume 36, Issue 17, 15 October 1942, Page 5

STRANGE INCIDENT IN ISLANDS

Shorts Used For Signal

(Received October 14, 9.20 p.m.) NEW YORK, October 13. (Some of the Japanese flyers who have been shot down in the South Pacific pleaded for a chance to become American or Australian citizens, so that they could join the Allied air forces, according to Brigadier-General Perrin, who returned from Australia a month ago. He has also told how short pants played a vital part in the rescue of a lost detachment of marines on Guadalcanal. A .pilot who was Hying his divebomber over an isolated part of the north shore observed white spots near the beach. He descended to investigate, and saw a single word, “Help,” which a group of marines who were cut off on all sides by the Japanese had formed by stripping off their shorts and spreading them on the ground. The pilot reported to the marine headquarters and then sent his plane shrieking down repeatedly while the gunner fired the machineguns to help the marines fight their way through to the shore. Meanwhile, two rescue boats escorted by a destroyer sped up the coast and the destroyer shelled the Japanese while the marines drove through to the beach. The rescue boats raced to the shore under a hail of enemy machinegun fire, which forced them to retire twice, but on the third attempt they reached ■ the shore and took off the entire party.