CLEARING ENEMY FROM BURMA

Press, Volume LXXXI, Issue 24567, 16 May 1945, Page 7

CLEARING ENEMY FROM BURMA

Attempt To Escape To Siam IRRAWADDY FRONT STILL ACTIVE (NZ. Press Association— Copyright) (Rec. 11 pjn.) LONDON, May 15. The British 14th Army'm Burma is going ahead in its huge-scale moppmgup operations, “British and Indian troops are sou meeting stiff opposition in tpe Irrawaddy sector of the Burma front, says the Australian Associated Press special correspondent in Burma. “These troops belong to LieutenantGeneral Sir Montague Stopford s 33rd Corps, which captured Mandalay and was then switched to the right flank of the 14th Army’s southerly drive. Having captured the tpe corps began the present drive down both banks of the Irrawaddy towards Rangoon, while the 4th ,p9fPf, a “* vanced on Rangoon from Meikula. “The Japanese, who were forced across to the western side of the Irrawaddy when the oilfields were captured, are now trying desperately to get back to the eastern bank in an attempt to escape across Burma to Siam, but they are being wiped out. Many Japanese bodies have been seen floating Sown the river. East of the Meiktila-Rangoon line Japanese opposition appears to be weakening generally.” . “Our troops advancing south against opposition down the railway from Prome have reached a point 91 miles from Rangoon;” says a South-east Asia Command communique. “A slight advance has been made eastward of the Toungoo area against weakening resistance. North-east of Pegu a large diimfc of Japanese motor transport was captured. Mopping up continues satisfactorily over the whole area. Allied Bombers Active “Aircraft bombed Japanese troop concentrations near Kalaw, on the Siam escape routq, also north of Prome ’and south-west of Toungoo. Heavy bombers wrecked a railway bridge south of Chumphon on the line to Singapore.” The supply of the victorious Allied forces in Burma, which had to be carried out almost entirely by air, reached its peak during April, when about 7000 tons—2ooo tons more than the previous month—were delivered through treacherous weather and over towering mountains by aeroplanes of the Combat Cargo Task Force of the Eastern Air Command. Although the operations were greatly hampered by pre-monsoon storms, every squadron operated every day in the month. The supply Ijnes lengthened as the 14th Army moved swiftly on Rangoon, and in order to maintain combat the pilots had to fly the greatest number of air hours that had been flown by the task force in any one month, the total hours for April being 8400. The weather was unusually bad and some missions had to be cancelled and others diverted in order to fly around storms. So great was the, strength of the tornadoes that one aircraft was torn apart in the air. Many forward airfields became inundated by heavy rain and longer hours had to be spent In the air- as alternative fields were sought In addition, air commando liaison aeroplanes flew 6087 hours and evaquated approximately 5000 casualties.. AIR SWEEP FROM INDIA ENEMY SUPPLY LINK BROKEN BANGKOK-SINGAPORE RAILWAY V. RUGBY, May 14. . In a round trip of nearly 2500 miles, from bases in India, Liberators of the Eastern Command’s Strategic Air Force yesterday smashed a 600 fept long bridge on the Bangkok-Singapore railway. The bridge, about 600 miles north of Singapore, had been hit before, but the new strike demolished it and has temporarily denied the enemy the use of a vital supply link for his armies in Lower Burma and Siam. Oiir aircraft flew only 500 feet above enemy territory and the crews were able to see something of the transport problems facing the Japanese in this area. Besides attacking shipping and road communications, Liberators also bombed rolling stock on the BangkokSingapore railway. Since the fall of Rangoon the enemy has become increasingly dependent on the railwaylinking Moulmein-ron which the enemy is now retreating—Bangkok, and Singapore. On this rail system depends much of the enemy’s ability to continue resistance in Lower Burma and Siam and to withdraw the threatened troops when further retreat becomes inevitable. The Strategic Air Force is accordingly concentrating on this railway triangle.