NEED OF BROAD VIEW

Wairarapa Times-Age, 24 December 1941, Page 3

NEED OF BROAD VIEW

SIR R. BROOKE-POPHAM REPLIES TO CRITICS , WORLD-WIDE WAR SUPPLIES THAT HAVE GONE ELSEWHERE. WITH EFFECT ON DEFENCE OF MALAYA. (By Telegraph—Press Association— Copyright) SINGAPORE, December 22. “We'must bear in mind that this is a world-wide war, and we must take the broad view of the situation,” said Air Chief Marshal Sir Robert Brook-Popham, British Ccmmander-in-Chief in the Far East, at an impromptu meeting at Singapore of civil community leaders.

He asked his audience to see Malaya’s position in association with the other fronts, including Russia and Libya, with which Malaya was actually co-operating. Valuable supplies which they needed in Malaya had gone to Libya and Russia, and probably were largely responsible for the successful campaigns there. “We have lost a large part of northern Malaya, but only for a time,” he said. “Things might have gone differently if we had had more equipment. “The Japanese have introduced a new method of operation. They are so lightly equipped, wearing singlets and sandshoes, as to appear like civilians. Moreover; they are able to live on the country, which our troops are unable to do.

“The bright side of the picture is the A.B.C.D. co-operation. The United States is co-operating with Malaya, despite her own tremendous problems. The Chinese are attacking the rear of the Japanese at Hong Kong, while the Netherlands air and submarine exploits are already famous.” He appealed to the leaders of the community to build up confidence and help to put down fantastic rumours, defeatist talk, and uninformed criticism. MALAYA ASKING WHY. Reviewing the position in Malaya, an Associated Press correspondent says: “After a fortnight’s fighting we have lost Perlis, Kedah, Wellesley, Penang, and the north-eastern corner of Malaya. The people of Malaya are beginning to ask why. “For two years the people of Malaya and the Dominions, indeed, the whole world, have been told time and again that the defences of Malaya are impregnable. Yet in a period of two weeks strategic defence areas have been lost. Singapore itself, ‘the world’s strongest fortress,’ has been put on the defensive, perhaps in jeopardy. “The explanation is not far to seek. The man in the street is'-at last beginning to realise that ho has been / let down, Malaya has been let down, and Australia has been let down by men who have committed the same mistake which Britain has so many times committed in this war. The enemy has been under-estimated. Leaders in this part of the world for months questioned the Japanese ability to do the things which in the first fortnight he has proved beyond doubt capable of doing in a most business-like manner. “The Japanese were not good pilots; they were text-book pilots; the Japanese were unable to use mechanised equipment in Malaya’s ricefields, jungles, and rubber plantations. The Japanese were unable to land troops on Malaya’s east coast before March, because the monsoon would prevent it; the Japanese were unable .to send a strong air force against Malaya. “These were fanciful stories fed to correspondents. Some swallowed them, and wrote about clouds of planes over the jungles; others did not. Some who had seen the Japanese in action in China expressed contrary views and fears that Malaya had an insufficient air force. “In fairness to Air Marshal Sir Robert Brooke-Popham,” adds the correspondent, “he declared before the war that he'was not satisfied with the number of planes at his disposal, in which case the fault might be traced back to London.

MORE PLANES NEEDED. “Certainly, it is planes that Malaya needs now. Soon the cry will go forth for men and material. The lack of planes, however, does not explain completely the gradual British loss of territory in north-western Malaya, though it offers an excuse for the abandonment of Penang, which was subjected to merciless'' bombing. ' “There is no defining line in this jungle warfare, to which the Japanese have apparently adapted themselves. The British had devised no counter to infiltration tactics.

“Foi’ a year we had prepared Penang to resist attempts at invasion. Four months ago I inspected the Penang defences, which included guns covering the seaward approaches, miles 'of ■barbed wire along the beaches, ma-chine-gun posts, and a garrison composed of Indian and British troops. People are now asking why these defences were ever constructed if there was no intention of ever using them, or if Penang is strategically useless to us or the. enemy. “Another question being posed is why Penang was left intact for the Japanese invader. The scorched earth policy could have been put to good effect there, but no effort was made to destroy the power station, the water supply, and other utilities. Were they left because we hope some day to retake it? If so, we hardly believe the Japanese will leave them intact.”

A message yesterday read: “It is authoritatively stated in London that a scorched earth policy was carried out in Penang before the evacuation. The power station and the Penang tinsmelting works were destroyed.”