FULL SIEGE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 18 December 1941, Page 5

FULL SIEGE

AIR AND LAND BOMBARDMENT OF HONG KONG Island Colony in Good Heart BRITISH REINFORCEMENTS IN NORTH-WESTERN MALAYA DETERMINED EFFORT TO RETAIN PENANG LONDON, December 17. It was learned in London today that the bombardment of the island fortress of Hong- Kong, both from land and air, is continuing on an increased scale. The guns of the fortress are responding vigorously and our troops are putting up a magnificent resistance. . . A communique received today states that the position has been stabilised inside the strong defences of the island in the conditions of a full siege. The colony is in good heart and there is plenty of food, arms and ammunition. Chinese counter-attacks on enemy communications on the mainland are being continued, but the Japanese forces along the railway to Kowloon have been reinforced. Reports that the Portuguese colony of Macao, on the south coast of China, 45 miles south-west of Hong Kong, have been captured by the Japanese were denied in Lisbon today. Fighting against the Japanese invaders in north-west and north-east Malaya is reported in a communique from Singapore. Agency correspondents state that fresh Imperial troops are being rushed to Kedah to relieve the tired men who have been ceaselessly in action for the last week. The relieving forces are supplied with heavy equipment and an effort is being made to halt the invaders, who are said to be within ten miles of the northern tip of the island base of Penang*. In Northern Malaya the Japanese are reported to be using* one-man tanks. A Singapore message reports that 17 enemy aircraft have been shot down by anti-aircraft guns since last Saturday and that five others were so badly damaged that it was unlikely that they would be able to return to their base. A communique issued by Army Headquarters in Burma states that civilians as well as military forces have been evacuated from Victoria Point, at the southern extremity of Burma. No hostilities have yet taken place in Netherlands East Indies territory but the Netherlands air forces and naval units are co-operating actively with the British forces. A Netherlands submarine scored a direct hit on a Japanese destroyer which was covering a landing on the north coast of Borneo. The enemy has effected a landing in Borneo, but only after the British forces had carried out the scorched earth policy and withdrawn. Oil refineries and other installations over an area extending ten miles inland were completely destroyed. HEAVY AMERICAN BLOW

United States Army Headquarters at Manila report that a heavy blow was struck at the enemy air forces at Vigan, on the north-west coast of Luzon island. American planes shot down one enemy aircraft and destroyed at least 25 others on the ground. They also set fuel supplies on fire. A Washington message states that hit and run raids on Hawaii, in which the Japanese have risked valuable warships, are regarded as an attempt to draw part of the United States Pacific Fleet into the hunt after raiders. The fleet, however, is adhering to its primary mission of tracking down the main Japanese fleet. A Reuter report from New Delhi states that General Wavell, Commander-in-Chief in India, has completed plans to secure the effective co-ordination of the Indian and Far Eastern commands. General Wavell visited Singapore just before the outbreak of the Pacific war.