Railway accident in Yunnan

The railway accident in Yunnan was the result of an air raid on February 1, 1940. 85 people were killed.

Starting position

Since 1937 the Japanese Empire attacked the Republic of China in the Sino-Japanese War . The Japanese had occupied large parts of the east China coast and, along large rivers, the hinterland. They tried to advance south to the French colony of Indochina . The interior of China, on the other hand, was held by the Chinese national government . For the supply from overseas - also with regard to weapons - it was limited to a single efficient railway line, which started from the French port H Hafeni Phòng in Tonkin , French Indochina .

→ Main article : Yunnan Railway

As a strategic facility, the railway line was therefore repeatedly the target of air raids by the Japanese Air Force from the summer of 1939 .

the accident

On February 1, 1940, the Japanese attacked a bridge on the Yunnan Railway at km 235 (the Chinese kilometer rating) in two waves of attack with 50 bombers , the steel lattice framework of which was brought down. A train was hit that was traveling from Hải Phong to Kunming and was crossing the bridge at that moment. The attack of the second, decisive wave of bombers was flown by 27 aircraft. The bridge collapsed, the train's steam locomotive was hit and the wooden car bodies caught fire. Many people suffered by the escaping steam scalding . This was not the first such incident, but it was the most momentous.

consequences

85 people died, including 5 French, and another 120 were injured. Both the US and French ambassadors in Tokyo protested the attack to the Japanese government. The Japanese claimed that the railway was a military target. They also suspected the French of supplying the Chinese Republic with weapons via the Yunnan Railway, but this was denied by the French. On the other hand, Japan offered compensation for personal injury and property damage .

See also

The bombardment of the D 393 near Grdelica shows a similar sequence of events .

literature

• Frédéric Hulot: Les chemins de fer de la France d'outre-mer 1: L'Indochine - Le Yunnan . Saint-Laurent-du-Var 1990. ISBN 2-906984-05-1
• NN: Bombardment de la voie ferrée du Yunnan . In: La Sentinelle v. February 6, 1940, p. 4.

Web links

• Le monde en guerre - 2 February 1940 .
• Message . In: The Ottawa Journal v. February 2, 1940, p. 1.
• NN: Aliens killed by Japbombs . In: The Rhinelander Daily News v. February 2, 1940, p. 1.
• NN: Bombing of Yunnan line to go on, says Tokyo . In: The Straits Times v. February 6, 1940, p. 16.
• NN: La France protests in Tokyo . In: Journal du Loiret v. February 7, 1940, p. 1.
• NN: Japan Ready to Pay Compensation . In: The Straits Times v. February 8, 1940, p. 13.
• NN: Paris View of Yunnan Railway Bombings . In: The Straits Times v. February 7, 1940, p. 9.

Remarks

1. ↑ See Reuter: Japanese Bomb French Railway in Yunnan . In: The Straits Times v. February 2, 1940, p. 9.
2. ↑ These are named in: NN: Paris View .
3. ↑ Which was true. See IMTFE Jugement (English Translation): The Military Faction Conspires to Ally Japan With Germany Against the Western Powers , Chapter 4, p. 444.

Individual evidence

1. ^ NN: Bombing of French Railway to Continue . In: The Straits Times v. February 16, 1940, p. 5.
2. ^ Hulot, p. 132.
3. ↑ message. In: The Ottawa Journal.
4. ↑ message. In: The Ottawa Journal.
5. ↑ message. In: The Ottawa Journal; NN: Aliens killed .
6. ^ Hulot, p. 132.
7. ↑ NN: Aliens killed .
8. ^ Hulot, p. 132.
9. ^ NN: La France protests .
10. ^ NN: Japan Ready to Pay .