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Hokitika Guardian, 30 October 1933, Page 8

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KIDNAPPED BRITISH OFFICERS STORY OF CHINESE BANDITS TOKIO, October 10. A dramatic story of the release of three British; merchant ship officers after being held captive by Manchurian bandits for 163 days, is tdd in a state- 1 inept issued to-day by the Japanese Foreign Office. The men; Charles Johnson, W. E. Hargrave and A. B. Blue ,of the Butterfield and Shire steamer Nanchang, were released yesterday and returned to Neivehwang to-day. They were captured on March 29 while their ship was anchored off Newehwang, at the mouth of the Liao River, Manchukuo. They returned to the .British consulate at Newchwang in good health and apparently not much the worse for. their long captivty in the Manchurian marches, though they said they had been occasionally maltreated by the bandits. The" all wore lonrr nukept beards. The men were finally released by the efforts of Japanese and Manchukuo forces. Though the .Japanese Foreign Ohce is secretive about what, if any, ransom was paid the bandits for the release, it is believed here that a considerable sum must have been pb'd. An interesting feature of the men’s captivity is that in the middle of April a case of what is known in the' United •States as “hi-jacking” occurred, when they were forcibly taken from the hands of the band who or'ginally captured them by .a stronger force of outlays. SEIZURE OF THE OFFICERS The story as related in the Foreign Office’s statement is that at noon on March 29 this year the steamship Nan-, chang was lying some two miles off the mouth of the Liao River awaiting a pilot to enter Newchwang Harbour, a short distance ,up the river, when suddenly a band of brigands appeared '.n two large sampans. The ship’s officers and crew were nearly all playing Mali Jong on the deck. The captain, on seeing the approach of the bandits, immediately tordered that fl'.ie dbip .be got under way. But the ship could not be moved as the sailorfrightened by the sight of the armed bandits, had fled to the': r bunks, the Foreign Office statement continues.. The bandits, after doing some shooting and plundering what they could get their' hands on. hurried away, taking four of the British officers with them. On receiving a report of-the outrage the Manchukuo coastguards, under the direction of the Mukden nolioe. began to hunt the bandits. On April 3 one- bF the kidnapped men returned to Newchwang, carrving a note from the ban-., dits,. demanding.a million (dollars .arid a large quantity of arms and ammunition as ransom for the remaining three men Bnt Japanese authorities decide'! to take, in'co-operation with those bf Manchukuo, every possible measure to rescue the men. Thev sent■ a destfoyer to Newchwang and placed the affair in; the hands of Captain Obata, chief of the mil'tary police at Newchwang. STRONGER BAND OF OUTLAWS Toward the middle of April -it was discovered that the three British hostages were in the bands of another and stronger band of outlaws, who had attacked the original captors and seysed their prisoners. Negotiations conducted between the bandits and the "agents sent by the Mancluikub authorities from time to time produced no results. Tactics such as holding relatives of some of the bandits as hostages in order to induce the latter to release the captives were of no avail. NeverthelesSj the work of attempting a rescue was continued in the face of well-nigh insuperable obstacles. It was extremely difficult to locate the bandits, who daily moved their camp in the thick marcliland near the Bay bf Panshan. When contact was finally established, the bandits demanded huge sums of money, or made other impossible demands. The Manchukuo authorities, in despair of reaching a settlement through negotiation, resolved to release the men by armed force. They planned, however, to send negotiations in. June once more and for the last time. THREAT BY THE OUTLAWS The outlaws quickly got wind of th's, and sent notice, that their hostages would be killed the moment the authorities tried 'to carry out their scheme. So the plan had to he dropped and negotiations were resumed with little better prospects of success than before. Finally, in tile middle of July, the Manchukuo authorities decided on a punitive expedition, and 300 coastguards in five police boats and 10 junks were sent to the Panshan Bay, while a land force of police and volunteers was organised. The Japanese military also mobilised a contingent of 300 soldiers and two aeroplanes for reconnoitring, to act in conjunction with the Manchukuo forces. All preparations having been comoleted, , a general attack was made early in tile morning of July 15. The expedition inflicted heavy loss on the bandits, but was unable to fescue the prisoners. The military operations were suspended on July 17, as it became temporarily impossible to track the fleeing bandits. . Therefore, once in every five day's,' or a week, messages were sent to the bandit headquarters to urge the release of the captives, but tbe baUdits persisted in their exorbitant demands.' BANDITS RELEASE PRISONERS However, with preparations for' in. rfenewed expedition by the Maiiehukuo'

forces, the bandits seem to bave awakened to tbe futility of further putting off a settlement and lost heart in tbe face of the determined attitude of the Mancliukuo and Japanese authorities. They finally showed willingness to surrender their captives. Accordingly the local pol'ce chief at Newehwang, accompnied by Captain Obata, went on September 3 in an armoui’ed car to meet the bandits’ representatives and recover the , captives, who were turned oyer to the British consulate at Newehwang on September 8. Tho rescue work entailed extraordinary patience, tact and hardship! on the part of the ,Mancliukuo police and coastguards,' as well as the Japanese,. especially Capta'.’n Obata. It is stated that they all took these pains, however, willingly aiid unselfishly for humanity’s sake.