MILITARY DRESS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 5, Issue 33, 25 March 1942, Page 3

MILITARY DRESS

LACK BY JAPANESE

The light personal equipment of tho Japanese soldiers in Malaya is emphasised in a statement in the official journal of the Australian Army Education Servlec. Their dress often is non-military, commanders wearing a single sash at night and the non-commissioned officers a white armband. Troops have been captured wearing no unit insignia but a white strip bearing their name and number. Usually an advance is preceded by a forward screen, whose duty is tc. locate the position of defending troops. Frequently these forward parties are dressed in ordinary shirts, shorts and running shoes. This helps make them to mix with Asiatic refugees and assist the infiltration and flanking tactics that have been so successful. Wherever the forward screen reaches a defending position word is quickly passed (jack and strong defences deploy in the rear and begin an outflanking move. When the forward screens meet counter-attacking forces they lie hidden until they can open fire on the rear of the attacking force that has passed through them. Just as German dive-bombers were provided with screaming devices to unnerve land troops and civilians, so the Japanese employ various means of producing noises. They use mortar bombs and bullets which make very loud explosions, the idea apparently being to persuade the defenders that they are being heavily, bombarded. In some cases this ruse succeeded in causing premature withdrawals. One observer has reported that junior officers and non-commission-ed officers slavishly follow the instructions in their lield service manuals, and have even been seen to consult it in battle when confronted with an unexpected situation. The old dictum that a soldier does not think, but just docs as lie is. told is ftill maintained by the Japanese army. Here lies the strength and the weakness of the system. SOVIET COMMANDER SURVIVES ORDEAL The hect'c exploits of a Russian tank ccimmander have been revealed in a Soviet communique. During an attack on a village his tank was damaged and broke down. The commander continued to fire until all his ammunition was exhausted, and lie was cut off by the enemy. The other members of the crew had been killed. For nine days the commander remained in the tank, suffering greatly from cold and hunger. He was then rescued by advancing Soviet infantry.