FURIOUS CONFLICT

Wairarapa Times-Age, 8 April 1942, Page 3

FURIOUS CONFLICT

RAGING IN BATAN PENINSULA Japanese Still Throwing in Masses of Troops NO IMPORTANT CHANGE IN BURMA DAMAGING ALLIED AIR ACTIVITIES NORTH OF AUSTRALIA LONDON, April 7. The principal news of land fighting in the Far East comes tonight from the Philippines, where the battle in the Batan Peninsula is now in its fourth day. The Japanese are still attacking the centre of the American line with masses of troops. A Washington communique states that the Japanese met with some success yesterday. The fierceness of the fighting is indicated by the statement that the casualties were heavy on both sides. The Japanese continue to bomb the American back area. Yesterday’s air attacks were particularly severe. In Burma no change in the situation is indicated. In the Irrawaddy Valley yesterday our troops were in contact with enemy patrols. In the Sittang Valley Chinese troops are engaged with the Japanese north-west of Toungoo. North of Toungoo the Japanese are constructing defence works and are not advancing. Enemy bombing of towns in Burma yesterday caused little damage and few casualties. There is no fresh news of the enemy naval forces in the Bay of Bengal. A new Delhi communique states that no fresh attacks have been made on merchant ships in the Bay of Bengal. A big Japanese fleet was sighted ten days ago near Amoy, on the Chinese coast, opposite the island of Formosa. It included five warships, 13 transports and some smaller craft. Allied bombers again attacked Lae, in New Guinea, this morning. No interception was attempted by the enemy but anti-aircraft fire was severe. Aerodrome runways and buildings were damaged and it is estimated that several enemy aircraft on the ground were destroyed by fire. An observer says there is every indication that the Japanese are embarrassed by their losses of aircraft and ships in the areas north of Australia. Japan gives the impression of a country trying desperately to make it appear that it retains the initiative. The Lieutenant-General of the Netherlands East Indies, Dr Van Mook, has conferred with General MacArthur regarding the part to be played in the South-Western Pacific by Netherlands air and other forces. A considerable part of the Dutch air force escaped from Java. President Roosevelt is convening a second meeting of the Pacific War Council to discuss strategy.

HEAVY ATTACKS ON BATAN DEFENCES CONTINUED ALL DAY ON MONDAY./ SOME ENEMY SUCCESS ADMITTED. (British Official Wireless.) (Received This Day, 10,15 a.m.) RUGBY, April 7. A Washington War Department communique states: “The enemy continued heavy attacks on the centre of our lineon the Batan Peninsula all day on Monday, with some success. Casualties were heavy on both sides. Aerial bombing, in our rear areas and on the south coast of Batan, was particularly severe. “An enemy amphibian plane was destroyed on the waters of Manila Bay by the horizontal fire of one of our an-ti-aircraft batteries. Enemy artillery from the Cavite shore shelled Corregidor Island and Fort Hughes for two hours in the afternoon, but no damage and no casualties were sustained. The guns offi/ur forts laid down a counterbattery fire on enemy mainland emplacements. “In Australia, Dr Van Mook, Lieut.Governor of the Netherlands, conferred at length with General MacArthur and they discussed the considerable part the Netherlands forces are expected to play as the war progresses in the South-Western Pacific. Dr. Van Mook informed General MacArthur that resistance to the Japanese invasion continues in Java.”

CHINESE RESTING AFTER BATTLE OF TOUNGOO. ARRIVAL OF REINFORCEMENTS. (By Telegraph—Press Association —Copyright) LONDON, April 6. Fresh Chinese reinforcements have reached the Burma front and ,bolstered up the stabilised Chinese positions north of Toungoo, says an Associated Press report. The reinforcements are taking over front-line positions from the Chinese division which withdrew from ■ Toungoo, giving that weary force a much-needed breathing spell. Reports from Chinese field headquarters indicate that the Japanese have launched a small attack on the Mawchi-Toungoo highway, using about one battalion of infantry. Yesterday there were two bombing raids on the Chinese troop positions. The Chinese had one lorry destroyed and some men wounded in the two raids.

STORM OF BOMBING SURVIVED BY AUSTRALIAN CRUISER. . SIX ATTACKING AIRCRAFT SHOT DOWN. ADELAIDE. April 7. In one day 128 Japanese bombers attacked the Australian cruiser Hobart and aimed 600 bombs at her without scoring a hit. Members of the crew declare that the cruiser has a charmed life. Of the 600 bombs dropped in one day in Banka Strait, 74 were near - misses. Six of| the attacking bomber'swere shot down and others were damaged. The Hobart’s casualties were remarkably light. At Batavia the Hobart was tied up with an oil tanker alongside. A bomb dropped on the tanker and went clean through it. The Hobart escaped with shrapnel holes and again the casualties were very few.

NEW POSITIONS OCCUPIED ABOUT 40 MILES NORTH OF PROME. PATROL CONTACT WITH ENEMY IN BURMA. (British Official Wireless.) (Received This Day, 10.15 a.m.) RUGBY, April 7. “Yesterday there was contact only with enemy patrols on the Irrawaddy front,” states a Burma communique. “There was not much air activity during the day. Our forces are still in the process of taking up their new positions, which are now north of Thayetmyo (a town about 40 miles north of Prome). Oil and cement installations at Thayetmyo and Alanmyo, close by. were successfully demolished before our forces withdrew. The latest information about the enemy is that a column on the west bank was located north of Kama, half-way between Prome and Thayetmyo, and another on the east bank, about Myaungbinziek, with elements moving north-east, up the Sinjok Valley. A town in Central Burma was bombed yesterday morning but there were very few casualties and no damage.”

NEW LANDINGS MADE BY JAPANESE IN SOLOMONS. MAY PORTEND ATTACKS ON FIJI & NEW CALEDONIA. SYDNEY, April 7. Japanese forces have made further landings in the Solomons, reports the “Sydpey Morning Herald’s” war cor'respondent in New Guinea. They at present occupy Kieta, on Bougainville Island, Kessa, on Buka, and Faisi. There is no indication of the size of the forces which made the landings from small naval craft other than that they are “token forces.” Most of the centres occupied can be used as seaplane or landplane bases. The new landings do not at present represent any serious threat to the Allied possessions in the Pacific, but the Japanese may hope to use them probably for a drive against New Caledonia and Fiji, says the correspondent.

STILL RESISTING TWO DUTCH FORCES IN JAVA. MELBOURNE, April 6. Dr. Van Mook, former Lieutenant-Governor-General of the Netherlands East Indies, announced that two Dutch forces of considerable size are still resisting the Japanese in the jungles and mountains of Java. They are well supplied with food and ammunition.

GIFT TANKS ADDRESSED TO GENERAL MACARTHUR. NEW YORK, April 5. At Schenectady, New York, today five tanks were loaded aboard a train to start their journey to Australia, each inscribed: “To General MacArthur from the citizens of Schnectady County.” Schenectady County, the home of the American Locomotive Works, which are building tanks for the army, started a drive last week to raise 50,000 dollars with which to buy one tank. Instead the drive raised over 254,000 dollars, school children alone raising over 100,000 dollars, so the five tanks were bought. A message from St. Thomas, in the Virginia Islands, says that Governor Harwood has proclaimed today “MacArthur Day,” making it a general holiday.