New British reinforcements from Egypt, traveling in armored trains, arrived in Palestine today as the authorities made preparations for military action to halt sabotage in Palestine. Their arrival followed the bombing yesterday and today of the railway network in various parts of the country, and the killing in Haifa of a police sergeant attached to the Criminal Investigation Division by two unidentified men.
The Irgun Zvai Leumi, in a broadcast over its clandestine radio, today acknowledged full responsibility for the numerous explosions which cut the main rail lines from Jerusalem westward to the coast of Tel Aviv and Jaffa, and northward from Lydda towards Haifa. A number of persons were injured, but no deaths were reported as a result of the bombing.
It was estimated that today’s blasts, which began at 12:45 a.m. this morning and continued for hours, severed the lines in scores of places, After a number of hours of comparative quiet as troops hunted for the raiders who mined the roads and repair crews attempted to restore service, several new explosions rocked Tel Aviv, damaging rail lines in the canter of the city and on the Jaffa dividing line, and setting a train afire. In addition a hand grenade hurled from a speeding car wrecked the Tel Aviv public information and press censorship office.
TWELVE EXPLOSIONS HEARD IN TEL AVIV; MANY IN JERUSALEM
At least twelve explosions were heard in Tel Aviv during the day. Other blasts echoed through the outskirts of Jerusalem where the rail line was cut and a freight train blown up in a suburban station. Hardly had the sound of the exploding mines died away when British troops supported by armored cars and tanks threw up roadblocks throughout the Jewish quarter of the city, searched all vehicles and questioned all passersby.
Trains were also blasted at Rehovoth and Kalkiliah, near Lydda. At Rehovoth the tracks were damaged in three places. At Pardes Hanna, a small trolley carrying a railroad gang set off a mine which cut the line and injured some of the workers.
At Petack Tikvah a party of British soldiers, hastening toward an area where shots were heard, found five mines across the entrance to their camp. In numerous other places, unexploded land mines were removed from tracks, railroad stations and other installations. Much of the damage was repaired by late this afternoon.
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