The last 12 Jewish prisoners held by the British military authorities in Palestine were released today, 48 hours before the completion of the British evacuation. They included a number of Sternists whose death sentences had been commuted to life imprisonment.
General Gordon H.A. MacMillan, British military commander, last night revealed that the British lost 198 men killed during the last 12 months and that 419 officers and men were wounded. He declined to comment on the number of troops who deserted to the Arab.
All armored vehicles which cannot be evacuated will be destroyed, he told newsmen, “so that there should be no danger of their getting into the hands of either party.” He gave no figures on the number of vehicles destroyed nor of the quantities of small arms which he said the police had dumped in the sea rather than leave behind. MacMillan added that over 12,000 British troops were evacuated between the termination of the Mandate on May 15 and June 22, leaving less than 5,000 to be withdrawn He also said that his relations with the Jews since May 15 have been “satisfactory.”
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
