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Four British Officers
Shot in Egypt Battles
From "The Age" Correspondent and A.A.P.
CAIRO, November 19. — Four British officers have been killed
and four soldiers and two British civilians wounded in Ismailia
in the last 24 hours. British forces are patrolling the city and
a curfew has been enforced.
In the fighting Egyp
tian authorities claim' they
have 'lost'' six, policemen
and four civilians -killed
and 25 police wounded.
Egyptian, police have now
withdrawn ;to their bar
racks. .
Geperal 'Sir George . Erskine,
General .Officer Commanding
British troops in Egypt, today
met the Governor of the Canal
at a' secret rendezvous between
Ismalia ! and Port Said to dis
cuss measures to- prevent. a re
currence' -of rioting and . dis
orders. V ./
The .'fighting ' began late on
Saturday night! A British foot
patrol carrying out night
rounds came upon a prone
figure on the pavement. Tttey
roused the' man — an Egyptian
policeman -4- who began shout
ing and- firing his gun..
As a result about. 60 Egyp
tian police came 'from, their
nearby" depot and began : fir
ing indiscriminately ' at ' any
thing and anyone. A British
major was killed during-, this
Incident.
Yesterday afternoon there
wtis a further gun battle, the
biggest since Egypt abrogated
the Anglo-Egyptian treaty last
month. , ' , I
Egyptian civilians joined the
Egyptian' police In" the fight
against British troops.,
Fighting broke out when;
police fired on a British mill-
tary police patrol car that was
passing through the town. As
the battle went on,. British
troops. were recalled from Sun-'
day afternoon tea dances and
football matches for uigent
duty/ ,
Three officers were
and four other ranks Injured.
Two civilians, one of. tliem
Mr. Ralph Champion, corres
pondent of the London Sun
day Pictorial, were also
wounded.
A United Press correspondent
today said Ismailia now lay
like a ghost town/ Its streets
are deserted except for an oc
casional British patrol.
General Erskine has ordered
the evacuation of the. several
hundred British, service fam
ilies living in rented accommo-i
dation in Ismalia to be speeded
up.
Blames British
Ismailia 's Egyptian Governor
(All Helmy Bey) has placed the
blame for the shooting on the
British. He says a British
patrol2 "tried to kidnap" the
Egyptian they round in the,
street von Snturday night. i
' Lleut.-Gen. Sir George Er
skine,' In charge of British
troops, said Ihc statement
tvas absurd." He described
as equally absurd an Egyp
tian statement that during
the fighting. on Sunday, 'Brit
ish civilians had "fired from
balconies at Egyptian police.
Helmy Bey, who says he
"cannot maintain law and or
der so long as my men are at- 1
tacked by British soldiers," has
ordered all Egyptian police Into
barracks until he confers with
British authorities.
The Egyptian- Minister for
the Interior < Fuad Serag el
Din Pasha i said - today the
Egyptian Foreign Ministry pro-
poseslodglng a strongly word
ed protest with the British Go
vernment against "acts of pro
vocative aggression" in the
Canal Zone.
$