SINGAPORE IS POISED FOR DECISIVE MOVE

Press, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23263, 25 February 1941, Page 8

SINGAPORE IS POISED FOR DECISIVE MOVE

FAR BAST

[Published by Arrangement with

SINGAPORE, February 8. During the last six months the defences of Singapore and Malaya have been greatly strengthened by reinforcements from the Indian Army, Australia and New Zealand, and by mechanised eq The m s e e n a' approaches to Singapore bristle with giant coastal guns which can out-range any capital mobile artillery to annihilate landing parties before they reach the shore scores of pill-boxes of machine-guns to sweep the barbed wire beach traps, and anti-aircraft batteries to keep craft at a height which would make bombing inaccurate. There are concrete machine-gun pillboxes in Raffles place of Singapore—at traffic intersec tions, and round the mumcipal airport. Barbed wire stretches in front of the famous See View Hotel, whose swimming pool has been demolished, like other structures on the foreshores, to, give the gun crews unrestricted vision. On both sides of this hotel are machinegun pill-boxes which are. dashed vuth !P S.S*“S deve— «£ Tndo-China and Thailand, the back door defences of Singapore havebeen strengthened with large troop and Air Force reinforcements. . The Commander-in-Chief m the Far East, Air Chief-Marshal S r Robert Brooke-Popham, at present visiting Australia, is generally credited with welding the three services , wlt hm what is considered to be impregnable fortress From it formidable am can come to neighbouring Einpire units or to an ally who is attacked. The Men Behind the Arms The war has made Singapore the melting-pot of the Empire.- On this small island arc troops of the British Empire—Highland legi ments, English regiments of the line. Sepoys, Sikhs, Punjabis, the new A rimS d fi“?g“e e M a lajs should be unexcelled. Many of them have lived in the jungle all their lives. When they take cover they merge almost comPl i[ C the W security’of Singapore is ever threatened, 0 theVljllery and anti-a.r. craft regiments will doubtless pi y

prominent part. They are finished with the most modern equipment, and are trained to the pitch of perfection for which British artillery units are n °Perhaps the most spectacular of all Indian regiments is an Indian mountain battery. The men of this unit are Sikhs and Punjabis. Many of them are more than six feet tall, and thej handle giant howitzers with ridiculous e3 Apart from the barbed-wire round the beaches and the big guns and pillboxes at every strategic point, which all" can see, there are constantly manned heavy batteries, positions, and other anti-aircraft and sea defences whose whereabouts cannot be disclosed. The strength of the army is supported by numerous squadrons of the Royal Air Forte and the RoyaP Australian Air Force, and the great potential power of the naval base and patrol vessels. Royal Air Force Prepares I visited a Royal Air Force station “somewhere in Malaya.” Its workshops, hangars, power-houses, and barrack blocks are scattered over a large

[By J. PERCIVAL, JUN.I

the "Sydney MOrning Herald.’’! '

area, so that they are not vulnerabl* to air attack, but they are accessible to each other.. Every building is S pe. dally protected against air attack, and all important points are considered proof against a direct hit by a heavy bomb Every part of the station has an air-raid shelter for personnel. The torpedo section* of this Royal Air Force station was interesting, it is one of the many responsible for maintaining, repairing, and storing the hundreds of torpedoes required by the squadrons of torpedo bombers operating from bases throughout Malaya. These aircraft are flown by men from all parts of the Empire. If used against an enemy fleet or transports moving to attack any British or allied possessions in the Far East, they W 6uld prove to be one of the most deadly striking forces with which the atlackers would have to contend. The workshop equipment includes facilities for the complete overhaul and repair of the largest and most modern types of aircraft. In these workshops, all metal main aeroplanes fuselages, aircraft instruments, aero-! plane engines, and armament can be repaired. Hundreds of skilled men ate employed. Some technical work is carried out by the Asiatic Technical Corps tinder the supervision of Royal Air Force personnel. Experienced Royal Air Force technical officers speak highly of the skill of these Asiatic mechanics, and say that they compare favourably with Royal Air Force tradesmen. Some .of the Asiatics have been appointed sergeants..

Malays in Navy I The newest unit of the Empire’s I Fleet, the Royal Malayan Navy, has E developed efficiently. About 600 men I have already passed through the training depot, H.M.S. Pelandok, and several' hundred more are undergoing a three months’ course. The training of the Malays has shown that they rapidly develop qualities of leadership. Several have qualified as leading hands, and the first two Malay petty officers were ap. pointed recently. Many of the ships patrolling the Malayan coast are wholly or partly manned by Malays who a year ago had never thought of a seafaring career. The naval base is more efficient and better equipped than when I visited It six months ago. The function 6f the base is to ensure that units of the fleet or fleets, and the largest warship afloat or likely to be built during the next 10 years, will be as much at home' at Singapore as at Devonport, Portsmouth, or Scapa Flow, It is officially stated that the Admiralty harbour extends all the way from the Johore Causeway down the Straits to Changi Point, and includes- the mouth of the Johore river, which is protected by the islands of Pulau Tekong and Pulai Übin. Altogether, it is stated, “there is more than 20 square miles of deep water anchorage, more than chough to accommodate the entire British Fleet.” In the armament depot are magazines holding stocks of all types of naval shells, mines, . and torpedoes. These magazines are modern, and designed to withstand a direct hit by a heavy bomb. ' To handle naval stores, there are more than 17 miles of railway, and : many locomotives, cranes, trucks* lighters, and motor vehicles. The work- ■,v shops beside the graving dock are j equipped with the latest types of ma- - I chinery, and. can make any naval repair. One crane can lift the largest gun or boiler from a warship. Highpower wireless stations ensure the maintenance of naval communication* around the world, . i All the naval buildings are con--structed to give the maximum safety' against air attack. If high-explosive bombs fell in the base, the damage from flying splinters would be negligible Vital points are proof against even direct hits. Thousands of Asiatic: artisans work in the buildings under European engineers. Malay syceS, Chinese tukans, Tamils, and Siktt policemen are working together m t common cause.