The Pittsburgh Press (April 3, 1944)
Swiss city clears bomb rubble
Schaffhausen death toll fixed at 35
Schaffhausen, Switzerland (UP) –
Residents, recovering quickly from the shock of an accidental bombing by U.S. planes Saturday morning, were completing the task of clearing streets of debris and rubble heaps today.
The death toll was set at 35, of whom 31 were identified and three were missing.
Several fires still smoldered Sunday and firefighters were kept busy.
A new air-raid alarm at 3:40 p.m. Sunday CET emptied streets and sent residents scurrying to cellars, but no planes were sighted.
The conservator of the famous historic museum in Schaffhausen said today that art experts estimated damage to art treasures would amount to at least two million Swiss francs (approximately $467,000).
Authorities said 27 dwellings were destroyed and many others were partly burned. Eight factories were destroyed or damaged.
Hull pledges reparations for tragic bombing
Washington (UP) –
Secretary of State Cordell Hull today pledged the United States to make reparations as far as “humanly possible” for the “tragic bombing” of Schaffhausen, Switzerland, by U.S. planes.
Mr. Hull said in a formal statement that he wished to express “my own and all Americans’ deep regret.”
Mr. Hull said he had been told that investigations made by the War Department indicate that in the course of operations against the “Nazi war machine” a group of U.S. bombers:
…due to a chain of events negating the extensive precautions which have been taken to prevent incidents of this character, mistakenly flew over and bombed Swiss areas located on the north side of the Rhine.