British in Jerusalem Urged to Evacuate City by April 15; Small Colony to Stay on

Sir Henry L. Gurney, Chief Secretary of the Palestine Government, today warned all Britons in Jerusalem that the last chance for them to leave Palestine in Army convoys and Government-chartered troopships Would be April 15, a month “before the Mandate terminates.

On that date, he said, a large convoy assembly would leave the city in a two-day journey through Arab territory. After April 15, he added, every Briton in Jerusalem would have to make his own arrangements for leaving the city.

About 80 Britons, including 20 women, will stay in Jerusalem indefinitely. Most of them are either missionaries or business men. They have formed a British colony in the city which will provide its members with food and fuel for the next six weeks, made up chiefly of Army and Government surplus stocks.

The colony will be concentrated in the present “German colony” in Security Zone A. All of the men in the group are trained in the use of firearms and have ?considerable supplies on hand. They also have a powerful radio transmitter with which to reach the outside world after Jerusalem is cut off from the entire world, as is generally expected will happen, and such services as cables, mail, electricity and water become unavailable in the wake of heavy street fighting.

Those British who are remaining in Jerusalem assume that neither the Jews nor the Arabs will attack them since they feel they will be carrying out useful duties to both groups and might even serve as liaison between the two.

HAGANAH PENETRATES ARAB FORTRESS VILLAGE; DEMOLISHES IMPORTANT POSITIONS

A strong Haganah force today penetrated the Arab fortress village of Abu Kefir, astride the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv road, and smashed a number of important Arab defensive positions before retiring.

The assault was carried out in the face of stiff opposition from the village, which has been used as a base for continuous Arab attacks on nearby Jewish districts of Tel Aviv as well as raids on Jewish convoys entering or leaving the city. During the engagement at least 100 mortar shells were exchanged.

The Arabs, fearing an all-out assault on Jaffa proper, rallied their forces and posted additional guards at the entry points to the city. However, reinforcements from the surrounding area could not reach the scene of the battle because the Jews have closed all roads around Jaffa to traffic.

The casualty toll in yesterday’s train wreck near Benyamina has risen to nearly 60 dead and 100 wounded, it was revealed today. The Sternists have assumed responsibility for the deed, asserting that the train carried Arab reinforcements and large supplies of arms and ammunition. As a result of the recent attacks on the rail line, the government has restricted rail traffic on the main Haifa-Cairo road to three trains weekly, in one direction only.

Jewish and Arab mortars exchanged shells for several hours just before dawn this morning when the Arabs started shelling the Jewish section of the Old City the Haganah responded by trying to silence the Arab mortar batteries posted in nearby Arab Silwan, on the slope of the Mount of Clives. The British eventually halted the battle.

ARABS CLAIM 80 JEWS KILLED IN CONVOY ATTACK; JEWS REPORT NINE DEAD

A Jewish food convoy bound for Jerusalem from Tel Aviv was attacked again early today and was still stranded somewhere between the two cities in predominantly Arab territory late this afternoon. After two major battles, during which the Arabs claim to have killed 80 Jews and the Haganah admit the loss of nine dead and 15 missing, the 60-vehicle convoy is preparing another dash toward the besieged sections of Jerusalem where 100,000 Jews have only a three-day supply of food.

For the third successive day the Jewish internees at the Athlit prison camp have been mistreated by British guards and two men and a woman have been injured by indiscriminate firing by guards at groups of prisoners. The mistreatment started Tuesday after the discovery of an arms cache in the prison grounds. Water, light and visitors have been denied the prisoners and the food ration has been drastically reduced.

Referring to a British suggestion that the Jews in the old City be evacuated or disarmed as a peace gesture toward the Arabs, a Jewish Agency spokesman today pointed out that the British had also suggested the evacuation of the Negev and the Kfar Etzion settlements. “Where will the evacuations end?” if the British proposals are accepted by the Jews, he asked.