NAVAL BATTLE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 9 April 1942, Page 3

NAVAL BATTLE

EXPECTED IN INDIAN OCEAN SEARCH FOR ENEMY FORCES. TRIBUTES TO DEFENDERS OF COLOMBO. (By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright) LONDON, April 7. The battle for control of the Indian Ocean is considered to have opened with the Japanese air attack bn Colombo and the concentration of enemy naval forces in the Bay of Bengal. Japan is expected by some London observers to throw greater forces into' this battle than into the assault against Australia. The “Evening Standard’s” naval correspondent writes that news is expected any day now of a battle between our Indian Ocean naval forces and one or more Japanese aircraftcarriers, but the distances are so great that the finding of the raiders is as difficult as destroying them. Tributes are being paid in London to Colombo’s successful defence against the Japanese air assault. “The Times” says: “It was a reward of courage and efficiency such as the other threatened cities and bases in the area will be inspired to emulate. 1 The inhabitants of Colombo, whose gentle appearance and suave manners seem ill-suited to an age of fire and steel, behave, as Admiral Layton said, no whit less courageously and calmly than the Londoners when they first met their ordeal. The courage of the man in the street would, however, have been of little avail but for the efficiency of the defence services and the smooth co-operation of the various branches. “This time, if anyone was surprised it was the attacker. The enemy aircraft which were certainly destroyed amounted to nearly half of the whole attacking force, and, as for the rest, the return of damaged aircraft to their carrier ship is more difficult than to return to a land base. “A hunt is now proceeding for the Japanese who baled out over Ceylon, i Like every other territory on that ocean, Ceylon has been reconnoitred for years with a view to the coming struggle, and among the warriors who fall to earth in Ceylon some may be far from helpless fugitives.”