BRISTLING WITH GUNS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 4 September 1940, Page 3

BRISTLING WITH GUNS

DEFENCES OF SINGAPORE.

SEETHING MASS OF TROOPS

(By Telegraph—Press A&oei.'ition. I AUCKLAND. September 3. "Singapore is a seething mass of troops and is bristling with guns." said Mr G. R. Livett. assistant-super-intendent of police al Kuala Lumpur, who has arrived to spend his furlough in New Zealand.

"1 believe Singapore is impregnable." he added. "Certainly anybody who wants to take it will have a real task." The native population of Malaya took a very intense interest in the war, Mr Livett said. They wore extremely proBritish and some of the vernacular papers had published very fine leading' articles showing Britain's position and her war aims.

"Both British and Asiatic populations have responded marvellously to the war fund and patriotic fund appeals," he continued. "In Singapore itself more than 5.000.000 dollars have been given by Europeans, Malays. Indians, Chinese and people of various other nationalities, who make up the population. ■ "Laws relating to compulsory military service apply only to the European population, but Asiatics compose a large, proportion of the volunteer forces. They are very keen and provide many of their own officers. These native, volunteers are educated men, who make good troops. "Compulsory service in Malaya applies to men between the ages of 18 and 50 years," Mr Livett said. "So far. those called up are between 18 and 41 years of age and they are to receive intensive training. Local volunteers have also been mobilised for two month's training. "Life in Singapore is normal except that defences have been increased. There has been no evacuation from there, but there are barbed wire entanglements on the sea front and obstructions to guns have been cleared away. The island is ringed with machine-gun nests and gun emplacements.”

Mr Livett said that on his way to New Zealand he visited Batavia and Sourabaya. He noticed particularly air raid shelters and signs of air precaution for which careful provision seemed to have been made. Meanwhile as far as he could learn in a brief stay, the Netherlands East Indies were continuing normally, in spite of Holland having been overrun by the Germans.