TRANSPORTS SUNK

Wairarapa Times-Age, 5 March 1942, Page 3

TRANSPORTS SUNK

AN ENEMY TANKER TAKEN RESOLUTE'EFFORTS BY DUTCH. JAPANESE USING EMERGENCY < AIR BASES. (By Telegraph—Press Association —Copyright) LONDON, March 4. The latest communique from Bandoeng, issued late yesterday, states: ■‘Dutchmen, in the face of strong enemy landings, sank two more large transports and captured one of the enemy’s tankers with invaluable oil. It can be said that the first shock enemy landings have been checked, and that the Japanese bid to put Java’s airfields cut of action seems a long way from realisation.” Another report, stated to be official, said that there have been no new landings of enemy troops. Unofficial Dutch sources in Java report that the invaders have succeeded in establishing emergency air bases, which Allied planes are attacking with considerable effect. The bases have admittedly increased the difficult task of the defenders. Enemy claims today which can neither be confirmed nor denied, are that the railway between Batavia and Bandoeng has been cut, that the Japanese are only 20 miles from Batavia, while the force in the east is advancing with tanks in the direction' of Surabaya, and that an Allied air base has been occupied. EAST INDIES ARMY. Dutch circles in London state that the Dutch Indies regular army totals 50,000 men, of whom 20,000 are Dutchmen. There are also 50,000 trained and well-equipped conscripts and Home Guards. The number of British and American troops in Java is not great. Major-General H. D. Sitwell, who, it is announced, commands the British forces in Java, is a Regular Army officer aged 45. ALLIED ARTILLERY SUCCESSES IN JAVA. (Received This Day, 10.25 a.m.) BANDOENG, March 4. It is officially stated that British, American and Australian artillery units are reported to have had unusual successes in one sector. WAR LEADERSHIP BRITISH PAPER’S CRITICISM. THE NEED OF “BATTLECRAFT.” LONDON, March 3. The “Daily Express,” in the mostoutspoken leader for many months, says:— “Britain ,which wants ultimate victory without facing details or preparing for- breakdowns, doesn’t know her job. Nine convoys of Empire war supplies went to Singapore —as a gift for the Japanese. We have also got no value from the arms we have piled into Libya, where we are superior in the air. “Britain and America are the greatest war potential the world has ever seen. The Japanese get maximum results from moderate material. We get moderate results from the finest material that was ever put intp battle. “We have a pressing need for weapons, but equally pressing is the need for men who can handle them and think in terms of them. We must put ‘battlecraft’ at the top of our requirements.” ALIENS IN AMERICA HUGE CLEARANCE OF COASTAL AREA. SAN FRANCISCO, March 3. Lieutenant-General Dewitt, Western Defence Commander, has designated the coastal area, consisting of 250,000 square miles, extending from the Canadian border to Mexico, as a military zone which all Germans, Italians and Japanese, including Japanese Americans, must vacate. Though no deadline was announced, it is assumed that all affected must move before April 15. Approximately 200,000 persons are affected, posing a gigantic resettlement problem for the authorities. Officials revealed that plans are completed for the evacuation of 1,250,000 residents from the San Francisco peninsula and east bay areas. Old ferry boats, pleasure yachts and every available craft will be pressed into service to carry the evacuees up the Sacramento River toward interior towns when an emergency arises. A mass migration of vital records and documents is already under way from San Francisco to safer points inland. AIR STRENGTH ADVANTAGE WITH ENEMY. ACCORDING TO AMERICAN CORRESPONDENT. (By Telegraph—Press Association —Copyright) (Received This Day, 10.25 a.m.) NEW YORK, March 4. The United Press Java correspondent states that Japanese bombers and fighters attacked Allied positions and air bases almost without opposition today, resulting in the virtual collapse of the United Nations’ air support.