SUPPLY LINES IN DANGER

Press, Volume LXXX, Issue 24226, 6 April 1944, Page 5

SUPPLY LINES IN DANGER

Japanese Advance From Burma THREAT TO ROAD AND RAILWAY (N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) (Rcc. 9 p.m.) LONDON. April 4. The Japanese forces advancing across the Burma-India frontier now threaten to isolate General StilweU’s army in northern Burma. They could effect this either by establishing themselves on the Imphal-Dimapur rpad or by cutting the Assam-Bengal railway, both of which are in the state of Manipur. General Stilwell’s American-Chinese forces, which are advancing on the Japanese air base of Myitkyina, 200 miles east of Imphal. depend on these lines for their supplies. A British war correspondent says that the Japanese thrust across tht Burmese border appears to be bypassing Imphal, which is claimed to be

safe from surprise attacks. The Japanese, says this correspondent, seem to be more anxious to eut the ImphalDimapur road of the Assam-Bengal railway. A New York message quotes a leading article in the “New York Times,* saying: “The Japanese invasion of India is becoming a matter of increasing concern. The influx of this ‘army of liberation’ may stir up waves of political unrest in India.

“More Than a Diversion" “Hie invasion la developing into something more than a diversion. Apparently it has a double purpose, poli- ' tical and military. Politically, the Japanese are using the voice of the exiled Indian revolutionary Wader, Chandra Bose, to incite the Indians to . * revolt Uneasiness is expressed in, China, It is suggested that he may be having some effect “Japan also has a double military purpose: to check the Allied offensive in Burma in its early stages, and to -• leave China with no possible overland,, source of supply. Both these objectives could be achieved if the Japanese captured Dimapur. “The British are still confident, but so far few encouraging reports have • come from the front.” Reviewing the Burma campaign, the “New York Times” correspondent, Tillman Durdin, says: , “In the centre of the fropt, • nbout 200 miles north of Akyab, the Japanese are trying to reach Imphal, the, capital and road centre of the state 'of . Manipur, itself connected by road with the main Allied supply railway through Assam,, less than 100 miles, , away. They are working via Tiddim, ' in the Chin Hills, and from the Kabawvalley, part of the Chindwin river system, along the road from Tftmmu to Imphal. This is the chief Japanese . counter-thrust meant to upset , the whole Allied offensive. Move From hedo Road “A hundred to, 200 miles furthernorth from Ledo, a railhead of the As- " sam rail system, ■ General SUlwell's American and Chinese forces have worked their way east across the head- T waters of the Chindwin in the Hu- , kawng valley into the headwaters of : the Irrawaddy river system at Stiftn- . prabum, Walawbum, and Jambubum,, , queer names paralleled by,Sbaduzub, ' a neighbouring village, mentioned in the news.

“Somewhere in the forests of north- , ern Burma is the air-borne, air-sup- : plied force threatening the rear of tpe Japanese to the north and west. “Further to the east and north-east S on the border of Burma and China/ are the Chungking armies of Chiang Kai-shek, waiting on the Salween for an Allied landing in force in Lower Burma to give them a signal for an' advance along the old Burma Road." Discussing the natural and military obstacles which have held up the Allies on the southern front (the Arakan front), Tillman Durdin says: “The present Arakan front is about '• 50 miles north of Akyab. The main part of the front spans Mayu Peninsula, a finger of land lying along the Burma coast bounded by the broad Mayu river on the east and by the Bay of Bengal and the Nef river on the west. Along a highway running 18 miles through the backbone of the steep 2000-foot hills from Maungdaw on the Nef river to Buthedaung and beyond on the Kalapanzin (the upper; Mayu) the Japanese have established their forts. Defences Round Tunnels “Two tunnels about a mile apart are the core of the enemy defences. (One has been captured by the Allies.) In them the Japanese for the last eight months have stored ammunition and supplies, and round them have constructed a maze of supporting fortifications, roughly paralleling the road several miles in depth all the way from Maungdaw to Buthedaung. “After the capture of Maungdaw at the beginning of the campaign this year the Japanese withdrew to this fortified area. • It controls the intersection of the Mayu Peninsula road with the Maungdaw-Buthedaung road. “Across 40 miles of uncontested mountains other Allied forces are working their way down the Kaladan river, which enters the sea behind Akyab, the goal of the Allied offensive.”

More than 900 Japanese were killed in a battle which lasted a week on the Sangshak plateau, in Manipur state, says a correspondent of the Associated Press. British and Gurkha troops, though withdrawing to the Manipur plain, diverted a main Japanese column which was aimed at Ukhrul, says the correspondent. -The plateau, which is 30 miles east of Imphal, just inside the Indian frontier, was swept by gunfire all the week. The defend* ers depended on food and munitions carried by air. They fought off attack after attack. The Japanese attempted to close In under cover of a jungle fire which they bad started. The defenders were, forced to dash through the burning bush under ma-chine-gun fire. Some were burned to death.

British Airborne Force The British Secretary of State for War (Sir James Grigg) to-day announced that the Allied force in Burma, formerly under the command of Major-General Charles Wingate, was predominantly British. Aircraft of the Royal Air Force Transport Command, manned by British and Dominion crews, are constantly at work taking essential supplies to forward units of the British and Indian armiec in Burma. To do so they must cross grim mountain ranges and dense jungle. Air transport is the lifeline of these front-line troops and many times there has been . tense drama behind the flights. On t . return journey the aircraft carry casualties to hospitals. Such aircraft fed and maintained Major-General Wingate’s expedition. _ Veterans of the Gloucestershire Kegiment are still fighting on the Burma front. Some of these men have old scores to settle with the Japanese, for under General Alexander two years ■ ago, they fought many delaying actions ■ against the Japanese, in this same ■ ritory. '' ' *7 ■