HARD DAYS AHEAD

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 20661, 12 January 1942, Page 5

HARD DAYS AHEAD

MALAYA BATTLE MUST HOLD SINGAPORE COMMANDER CONFIDENT (Elec. Tel. Copyright—United Pieaa Aaan.) ' (Reed. Jan. 12, 10 a.m.) LONDON, Jan. 11. The Commander-in-Chief in Malaya, General Sir Henry Pownall, broadcasting, said: “There are difficult days ahead, much hard fighting and many ups and down of fortune. We must expect to hear bad news as well as good. We will be subjected to a scale of air attack heavier than anything we have yet experienced here, but 1 am confident we can and will steel ourselves to meet the anxieties and dangers with a calm spirit. Make no mistake, we will require determination and toughness, but we can be sure the tide will turn here, as it has already turned after many days in Europe and Africa ” Outlining the situation so far, Sir Henry said that Japan had the advantage in getting in the first blow. “Our first task has been to ward off that blow and see that Japan reaped the smallest advantage from it,” he continued. “The second task on which we are now engaged was to hold the enemy from the vital areas and hold them as far away as possible, while we renew, regroup and supplement our forces. Determined to Hold Singapore “The most vital area to defend is Singapore, which we are absolutely determined to hold. When the renewing, regrouping and supplementing is accomplished, then will be able to halt the enemy and later ourselves drive forward.”

The manifesto issued by the leaders of the Chinese and Indian communities in Singapore, addressed to their compatriots throughout the world, states: “The Japanese Fascists claim they are driving the white people out of Asia m order to free Asia for the Asiatics. This is a lie. In the past, numerous Koreans have been mercilessly butchered and, during the last five years, hundreds of thousands of Chinese have been massacred. The Japanese are now bombing open cities in the Philippines, Burma and Malaya, killing innocent men, women and children of the Asiatic race without discrimination.

“In the occupied territories the Indians in Malaya are threatened with pillage, rape and other brutalities as is happening in China. Japanese Fascism, therefore, is the enemy of Chinese and Indians alike and the common foe of all Asiatic races. Until Japanese Fascism is exterminated, there can be no peace or order in government.”