GERMAN SYMPATHISERS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 8 June 1940, Page 3

GERMAN SYMPATHISERS

ROUND-UP IN EAST INDIES. SWIFT ACTION TAKEN. The rapid and efficient round-up of Germans and Nazi sympathisers by native soldiers under European officers in the Dutch East Indies was described by passengers who arrived in Sydney from Batavia by an air liner of the Royal Netherlands Indies Airways. Within two hours, they said, about 2000 persons had been arrested, whether they were in bathrooms with towels around them, in their clubs, or at their work.

When marines approached German merchant ships which had taken refuge in Dutch East Indies territorial waters, some seamen jumped overboard and tried to escape by swiming. They were picked up by native prows. One German ship was scuttled by her crew at Sabang, a small port on the northern tip of Sumatra. The captains of most of the German ships had paid their harbour dues and had bought millions of guilders’ worth of rubber, sugar, copra, tea, coffee and other products. About 18 steamers, as well as valuable cargoes, fell into Dutch hands.

All important buildings and aerodromes in the East Indies are now under armed guard. The post office at Batavia has been surrounded with barbed wire, and machine-guns have been mounted. The central overseas wireless telephone bureau at Bandoeng is heavily guarded.

The Dutch Governor of Bali was fired on by native soldiers when he visited Bair 1 aerodrome at the week-end, .and did not halt when challenged.

The aerodromes at the oil centres in Borneo and the Celebes can be covered with obstructions in a few minutes. Huge drums of sea water are ready to be rolled on to some, and great logs can be hauled on to the others with tractors.