BURMA ROAD

Wairarapa Times-Age, 11 February 1941, Page 5

BURMA ROAD

CUT BY JAPANESE BOMBING BRIDGES AT VITAL POINTS DESTROYED. ! CONSIDERATION OF OTHER ROUTES. ■ 'By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright) NEW YORK. February 9. The Shanghai correspondent of tiie “New York Times’’ says Japanese bombers have effectively wrecked all bridges ou the Burma Road crossing I tiie Mekong River ami tributaries. Despatches declare j that the most vital points on the Burma Road have been entirely destroyed including a suspension bridge, and traffic lias been reduced to a I rael ion of the former eapiicit\. Trucks haxe been forced to wait for the slow ferries, which must cross twice to carry the load of one truck. Trucks have been concentrated to await, a chance to tranship the cargoes. The situation is so serious that Chungking is considering the abandonment of the Burma Road in favour of the Vladivostock-Chita-Lanchow route and is even considering a new route over the Tibetan mountains connecting Chungking with Calcutta. Japan’s acquisition of bases in IndoChina increases the probability of an attack across the Yunnan, effectively cutting the Burma Road.

The route from Vladivostock would bring overseas supplies to the Russian Far Eastern port deep into Siberia and then south across Mongolia, probably joining the Russian arms caravan route. The whole journey would be over 3000 miles. SUPPLIES GETTING IN SECRET ROUTES FROM EAST COAST. ■ (Received This Dav. 10.20 a.m.) NEW YORK, February 10. The Associated Press of America’s Shanghai correspondent says: Considerable quantities of war supplies are reaching the interior of China by secret routes from the east coast, thereby lessening China’s dependence on the Burma Road. Informants decline to reveal the routes, but it is known that the Japanese drive launched last week northward or Hong Kong was aimed at one of the most important routes running across Waichow.