§ 52. Mr. Gammansasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he will make a statement on the murder of Mr. W. H. Jennings in Burma.
§ Mr. YoungerYes. The British Consul at Rangoon flew to Tavoy on 1st March to investigate the circumstances in which Mr. Jennings was murdered. His full report has not yet arrived but it appears that a bridge on the road 12 miles east of Tavoy was dynamited by Communist insurgents during the night of the 26th-27th February. Next morning Mr. Jennings and another mines manager, a Swiss national, decided to inspect the bridge. At the bridge they were seized by four men and murdered in the presence of a large crowd. No other persons were attacked. We have asked the Burma Government to do everything possible to bring the criminals to justice.