FIGHTING IN BURMA

Press, Volume LXXIX, Issue 23919, 10 April 1943, Page 5

FIGHTING IN BURMA

DONBAIK POSITIONS ABANDONED BRITISH TROOPS ON NEW LINE (Rec. 11 p.m.) LONDON, April 9. No change is reported on the Arakan front, in Burma. Blenheim bombers, escorted by Mohawk fighters, bombed Shwebo to-day, while Japanese positions and motor transport at the mouth of the Mayu river were also attacked.. Yesterday Japanese bombers attacked an aerodrome south of Chittagong. Slight damage was caused, but there were no casualties.

“In view of the development of the attack against the narrow lines of communication behind them, and the impossibility of clearing the Mayu Peninsula to Foul Point before the monsoon, our troops, to put it bluntly, have abandoned their Donbaik positions.” says the New Delhi correspondent of "The Times.” “Our troops are now in the area from Indi, 15 miles north pf Donbaik, io a point east of Rathedaung. Fighting is reported to be still going on. The British and Indian troops continue to receive assistance from the air,”

The correspondent adds that the withdrawal is bound to increase the general disappointment over the Arakan campaign, which has largely arisen from an imperfect appreciation of its limitations and supply difficulties. The originally-planned attack against Akyab had to be given up through unforeseen delays in the arrival of necessary equipment. "Indeed, it is remarkable that the Japanese have not shown more initiative. because we put out our neck and were allowed to draw it back,” says the correspondent. "The Japanese, in spite of losses, characteristically are operating in the jungle with numbers of small detachments, but the much shorter British lines at the moment seem capable of resisting their assaults.”

An earlier communique from India stated that in the Indian area an attempted Japanese infantry advance was repulsed with heavy enemy casualties. Fighting continues in this sector. One of our light coastal craft engaged two large Japanese motor launches on the Mayu river on Tuesday night, and probably sank one. The Royal Air Force on Wednesday, without loss, attacked objectives-in central Burma, the airfield at Shwebo. the railway station at Wuntho, and various occupied villages and enemy positions. While it is often vaguely assumed that the reconquest of Burma will radically improve China’s military supply situation and allow a great number of Chinese troops to become active, the special correspondent of the “Manchester Guardian” in Chungking, who is now visiting India, is of the opinion that this, unfortunately, is incorrect.

“It seems that supply assistance to China cannot exceed a few tens of thousands of tons monthly, even after the reconquest of Burma,' until a decisive weakening of the Japanese navy permits the Allies to use ports in Indochina and south China,” he states. The correspondent points out that the small number of British and Indian forces engaged at present in the minor operation in Arakan need regular monthly supplies equivalent to several times the highest freight total ever carried over the Burma Road to China. While the authorities in New Delhi show the keenest interest in the earliest possible reconquest of Burma, in view of the moral and strategic values, also the oil and rice resources, they conceive the task of the Indian war effort to develop India as quickly as possible into a great general supplies base for operations wherever they may occur. The correspondent adds that the perfecting of the Indian defences has been virtually completed. There is a growing threat from the quickly developing strength of the Allied base in India which is evidently making Japan more reluctant to dissipate her forces for major drives inside China. A New Delhi communique, according to an agency message, states that American heavy bombers attacked the Rangoon railway station on Tuesday and the railroad, yards, and trucks were damaged. On Wednesday two other towns were bombed and fires started. __