The Evening Star (February 12, 1946)
18 Americans injured in outbreaks in India
CALCUTTA (AP) – At least four persons were killed and many others injured today when police fired on rioting mobs of Indians who demanded the release of Capt. Rashid Ali, Moslem officer sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment as a leader of the Japanese-sponsored “Indian National Army.”
American base section headquarters announced that five American officers and 13 enlisted men were hurt in the disturbances. Only one of the names has been released. Lt. Horace J. Gabbart of Phoenix, Arizona, was injured.
Allahabad, 560 miles to the north west, was paralyzed by a general strike and 90,000 hunger marchers paraded through the city protesting cuts in food rations and demanding more wheat for bread.
The demonstrations spread to Bombay and Delhi and included a number of incidents in which American soldiers were attacked.
American troops stranded in Calcutta were ordered confined to barracks and Red Cross clubs. American military police convoyed homeward-bound soldiers to an airdrome. The military police used tear gas on several occasions on mobs.
Military police rescued an American Red Cross girl who was forced by the rioters to leave her taxicab.
Brig. Gen. Walter K. Wilson, American commander in the Calcutta area, said. "We will continue to keep our people out of dangerous areas.”