"At this point, planes were again seen approaching." The commander Immediately ordered the amen about him, numbering about ten, to wave Japanese flags to Indicate that the Japanese troops wore there. The planes apparently failed to seo these fags and proceeded to bomb the ships. One bomb hit squarely Velween the two vessels, "setting, them on fire and causing " number of additional wounded. "A. Japanese. officer was wounded and a number of Japanese soldiers were killed or, wounded.
The wounded wore given treatment and at that point it came to the attention of the commanding officer that the Panay was sinking He ordered two boats out and officer proceeded to the scene. The oticer and one soldier boarded the vessel, which was sinking very fast, and looked around to soe if anyone was on board. The vessel had be abandoned and the effieer atid m velumed to their launch and went back ashore.
"Meanwhile, on "shore, a tall, foreign-style house' which appeared to have been the home of w foreigner was seen and the wounded and Chinese passengers of the two merchant vessels were directed to pro ceed in that direction. The troops boarded their boats and continued their way to Pukow. These are the [facts that huve been ascertained in While the following Is not a ver-aum note of what followed the General's delivery of his report, It fives the gist of the more important questions and the ext of the ans~
"Because of the wide distance between the unit and the warship, this fire was not returned by" the Japanese wilt. Five or six Dosis were seen being lowered from the. warships andthe merehant_ vessels to Iand persons on an island. In addition, a boat was een proceeding up-river. Judging that this craft was carrying retreat= ing Chinese soldiers in the direction 6f Wuhu, fre was opened on it ata range of 1,800 metres. Captain "No Shots" sit Panay Were any shots fired at the Paniiy from the launches in the river?—No.
What did yeu find in the captured boat?—They were Chinese; the boat was named the Lidab.
Were these facts obtained direct from the units concerned or are they shots second-hand?—They were obtained by the General's assistant who went directly to the responsible officer of the unit involved.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.