VALUE TO INDIA

Wairarapa Times-Age, 8 May 1942, Page 3

VALUE TO INDIA

OF MAGNIFICENT STAND MADE BY ALLIED FORCES IN BURMA. EMPHASISED BY VICEROY. LONDON, May 7. The value to India, of the magnificent resistance put up by the .Allied forces in Burma was stressed by the Viceroy, Lord Linlithgow, in a broadcast from New Delhi. Tie said they could well say they were lucky, as they had had a long respite before the real attack began, thanks to. the gallant stand by the British, Chinese and Indian troops in Burma. There is no official news of the exact position of the British troops in Burma. Apparently they are being steadily withdrawn along the Chindwin River. The Japanese have reached Yeu, and are now reported to be turning eastward. They are pushing on along the Burma Road into China, and are reported today at Chefang, 25 miles inside the Chinese border. It is stated in London that while air transport is being used to take out wounded from Burma, there is nothing like an evacuation of troops from this area. SECOND FRONT OPENED IN CHINA. ATTACKS ON SEABOARD CITIES. LONDON, May 6. “General Chiang Kai-shek has launched a drive to the Japaneseheld east coast of China,” says the military correspondent of the “Daily Express.” “This campaign will affect all the battles of the Far East. The Chinese guerillas have struck hard against 15 key Japanese bases in eastern China, and these battles are described as the opening of a “second front in China.” “China’s long-term strategy may influence Japan’s plans for the next three months. Chiang Kai-shek is said to have enough supplies to keep all his 4,000,000 men in the field for another year, and his drive to the sea will prevent Japan from withdrawing too many men from China for use on other fronts.” HEAVY LOSSES INFLICTED ON JAPANESE. BATTLES IN YUNNAN. (Received This Day, 10.45 a.m.) CHUNGKING, May 7. A communique states: “Chinese forces inflicted heavy casualties on a Japanese column and repulsed repeated attempts to break the Chinese lines in Yunnan Province. Severe fighting is still raging. It is most intense around Chefang.” CAMPAIGN EVENTS CHINESE SPOKESMAN’S SURVEY. (Received This Day, 10 a.m.) CHUNGKING, May 7. An Army spokesman claimed that the Chinese are still fighting around Mandalay. He denied that the towns of Bhamo and Myitkina had been captured by the enemy. He asserted that it was impossible for the Japanese.to gain complete control of Burma with their present strength of five divisions. The spokesman said the Japanese were continuing their air bombings, of the Chekiang Provinces, from which apparently they feared air raids on Japan might be launched. He admitted that the Japanese had completed the occupation of Wanting and declared that if the Japanese attempted a major invasion of China from the Burma Road they would encounter much more formidable resistance than that of the Chinese Fifth and Sixth Armies sent to Burma, -which were merely an expeditionary force, whereas China had 4,000,000 to 5,000,000 troops. The Japanese column advancing up the Chindwin River, the spokesman said, had turned eastward, apparently to cut off the Chinese troops fighting around Mandalay.