793.94116/5: Telegram
The Consul at Geneva (Gilbert) to the Secretary of State
[Received 8:30 a.m.]
84. Consulate’s 83, February 14, 3 p.m. Following is the full text of a telegram dated February 15 received by the Japanese delegation and given to Drummond for circulation:
“On receipt of a protest from Sir John Hope Simpson against the aerial bombardment of the flood relief refugee camp on February 5th, 6th and 7th, the Japanese Consul General at once communicated with the naval authorities who asked him to express their deep regret for this incident. It was due they said to a deplorable mistake: the refugee camp was close to the entrenchments and other military works that the Chinese were constructing, which the Japanese aircraft had orders to destroy, and as the camp was also surrounded by barbed wire they dropped bombs on it. The naval authorities greatly regretted that they were not informed of the facts until February 10, several days after the bombing, as prompt representations might have prevented these distressing incidents.”