A little 23-year-old graduate of the Central. Military Academy, who had returned from Java at the outbreak said that he had been quartered in the building for' two months. He declared that the strafing had caused nothing but structural damage; only three men had been killed and seven lightly wounded among the men manning the building: In precise English he explained that he was attached to a trench mortar section and that many of his friends from Java were fighting with the Chinese Air Force.
After a platoon in mock attack had gone over the top of a flooded trench with fixed bayonets for the benefit of the cameramen, the return journey was made to the headquarters building. Just as one party entered, three planes bombed buildings a few hundred yards away and another group who dashed off to inspect the damage crouched terrified for a few minutes, nearly caught by a second dose from above. A shower of pamphlets flute tered down like confetti.
Several miles of trudging over cobblestones in the early afternoon led to a spot where an anti-aircraft gun was to be set into action. But Japanese planes took the cue first. Two flights of three circled over and the first bombs whistled to earth not far away. The correspondents copied the tactics of the Chinese soldiers who edged away against the circling planes and began their dash for cover as soon as they were able to see the missiles in flight. For an unhappy fifteen minutes the visitors were very cognizant of the fact that they were miles from a bridge and trapped by the creek. Legs forgot their weariness in the retreat and goodbye to Chinese territory were made "with no regrets,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.