DEFENDERS OF BURMA

Press, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23534, 12 January 1942, Page 5

DEFENDERS OF BURMA

Praise for Allied Pilots ENEMY AIRCRAFT DESTROYED (Received January 11, 10.30 p.m.) (U.P.A.) LONDON, January 10. Five British and nine American aeroplanes straffed a Japanese air base at Tak near the Burma-Thailand border and set fire to three Japanese machines on the ground. The attackers machine-gunned aeroplanes, lorries, and buildings. All returned safely. Major-General Dennys, leader of the British military mission in China, paid a tribute to the British and American pilots operating from Burma. “They have saved Rangoon from the system, atic bombing in which the Japanese delighted in China,” he said. Fifty-three enemy aircraft have been destroyed in operations over Burma. American-built fighters destroyed seven light bombers on the ground in an attack on a Thai base. Mass meetings protesting against alleged Japanese atrocities have been held throughout Burma. The resolutions adopted were that the Burmese will fight to the death' against the Japanese. The Japanese are imposing forced labour on Burmese near the Thailand border. Many have been killed in attempting to escape. A Chinese spokesman in Chungking said that the Chinese troops in Burma were moving up to designated positions, and more were ready to enter Burma when and if they were needed. Air Vice Marshal F. D. Stevenson has arrived from England to assume command of the Royal Air Force in Burma.