ALLIED ATTACK

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 188, 8 May 1944, Page 5

ALLIED ATTACK

All Points Round Kohima STEADY ADVANCE (British Official Wireless.) , (Received May 7, 7 p.m.) RUGBY, May 6. “Following the attack launched by 14th Army troops at all points round Kohima on Thursday morning, we have cleared the enemy from a number of important positions. Our advance continues. with Allied aircraft acting in close support,” states a South-east Asia communique. North of Imphal, Indian troops inflicted casualties on the enemy east of Kanglatongfbi. South of the plain and near Bishenpur contact is being maintained with the enemy. In central Burma, four Japanese aircraft were destroyed and 12 damaged in an unsuccessful attack on one of our landing strips. In the Mogaung Valley, Chinese troops overcame the Japanese defences near Lahkraw River. Their advance southward toward Inckaungahtawng continues. In Arakan, after a heavy bombardment. we attacked southward from the Maungdaw-Buthidaung road and captured a new hill position, inflicting serious losses on the enemy. From widespread air activities one Allied aircraft is missing. At least three enemy planes were destroyed and two damaged besides those mentioned above. A Punjab regiment which was isolated in the Kohima area for three weeks has now got out, says a Delhi message. It was supplied by air during that time and fought the Japanese with grenades, killing 250 besides capturing eight bunker positions. Japanese Plight. A New York message says that the plight of the Japanese troops north of Manipur is getting increasingly difficult, according to the “New York Times correspondent on the Kohima front, 1111man Durdin. Japanese foraging parties are daily ranging wider through the Naga hills seeking villages with untouched stocks of rice. They have seized the pigs, chickens and goats,- and even the dogs, over a wide area. One captured Japanese document referred lyrically to a meal made of stewed rats. Japanese guns are seldom used because of lack of ammunition, but despite their desperate position, the Japanese show no signs or weakening. They still possess sufficient small arms and ammunition. They have dug underground rabbit warrens in the lofty ranges, to which they are sticking hard. Their positions are often impregnable to artillery fire, and they are able to exact heavy casvfalties ftom any ground force attempting to storm them. A well-kept secret of the Burma war has been made public with the announcement that West African troops have taken part in the air-borne invasion of Burma, and are now operating well behind the Japanese lines. The troops were specially asked for by the late MajorGeneral Wingate. They are mostly Nigerians and, unknown to themselves, Were assigned their important role even before their ships sailed from West Africa some months ago.

WITHDRAWAL FROM BUTHIDAUNG

Enemy Attacks Repulsed LONDON, May 7. Today’s South-east Asia communique says that the British have withdrawn from Buthidaung. It is explained that it is no longer necessary to hold the town now that the control of the whole of the Maungdaw-Buthidaung road is in our hands. The communique also states that Japanese attacks on our perimeter at Kohiina have been beaten off. NORTH-EAST INDIA Significance Of Operation British troops in the Kohima area have gone over to the offensive with satisfactory results. At first glance this curious battle of jungle and ravines in an out-of-the-way corner of north-east India appears to have no relation to the rest of the war. One may well ask .why should the Japanese want to waste time and men by selecting a battlefield not only difficult to reach but apparently hopeless for them from a communications point of view. This battleground in the uttermost marches of India would never have developed if there had been no aeroplanes. When the Japanese overran Burma and closed thg Burma Road, all links with Chungking appeared to be broken save a rail and caravan route from Russia, via Lanchow, north of Chungking. An air route to Chungking from India was subsequently developed, and this route has proved so successful that more supplies are now transported by air to Chungking than could be transported by the Burma Road. The route lies across the uttermost wilds of north-east India, south of which lie Imphal and Kohima. Indeed, these places represent the last, outposts of India and have been developed to assist the air route above them. The route is not ideal. The aeroplane must traverse the south-east portion of the Tibetan Plateau, none of which is lower than 13,000 feet. The ground consists of vast mountain ranges, with peaks towering to compete with the tallest in the world. Deep ravines and inaccessible mountains give -way gradually to jungle as one moves south into Burma. The route, moreover, passes close to areas in Burma controlled by the Japanese from which fighter aircraft can strike at the air transports. “The significance of Imphal and Kohima becomes obvious. If this area of the route can be covered at the India end there is a reasonable hope of effective coverage by American air forces in China under the command of Brigadier-General C. L. Chennault, Unexpected Attack. Imphal and Kohima are situated in areas so inaccessible from Burma that it was perhaps assumed that no enemy attack of any magnitude could develop. The recent operations suggest that the garrisons in the area were reduced below what has now been proved to be a desirable safety factor. Indeed, the recent operations constituted largely of defensive actions. The odds are now against the enemy. Their supply lines are bad, ns against comparatively good lines ot communication to Imphal. Nevertheless, there has been a very serious threat to this vital air link, and the Japanese have compelled the Allies to send reinforcements to this Spot when they might have been better used elsewhere. and this may have repercussions on operations in other areas. Apart from purely strategical implications, it must also be appreciated that an invasion of India, however remote, carries with it obvious political implications, aS well as the moral effect of the Japanese being able to say "India has been invaded."

A real answer to all these problems may be not to concentrate more and more forces in an out-of-the-way corner of India, but to institute large-scale operations for the reduction of Rangoon and the conquest of Burma, thus inaugurating one small step forward toward the desirable bases from which Japan herself may be threatened.—E.A.A.