One of a convoy of three British embassy cars which were on their way from Nanking to Shanghai was fired upon by a Japanese aeroplane at 4 o'clock yesterday afternoon, as the convoy was in the neighbourhood of Minghong. Though the car was badly damaged, there were no casualties, Flight Lieut. S. S. Murray, the Assistant Air Attache, was a passenger in the car which was hit, along with Captain W. L. Shinn of the China Navigation Ca, and Messrs, Brayham and C. Marshall Flight Lieut. Murray was the only official in the party.
The attack was made by two Japanese planes, which swooped down over the cars which were distinctly marked with large Union Jacks painted on their roofs. It was also understood yesterday that notice had been given to the Japanese authorities that the convoy would be making the journey to Shanghai.
A member of the staff of the Soviet. embassy, M. Shahoff, and a lady had been picked up by the convoy about ten minutes before the shooting occurred. They had been found beside the road in a stranded car and were being given a lift into Shanghai.
The car which was shot at was abandoned on the Minghong Road, it is understood, while the party came on to Shanghai in the two remaining vehicles.
Warned by the swoop of the geres planes that they were about to be shot at, all in the cars dived for a ditch near by, where they took shelter until the machine-gunning, which was very brief, was over. An official investigation into the incident was begun by the British embassy shortly after the party's arrival in Shanghai.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.