NETHERLANDS INDIES

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVI, Issue 31, 5 August 1943, Page 5

NETHERLANDS INDIES

JAPS IMPROVE DEFENCES NEW YORK, August 3. Japan is bolstering the defences of the Dutch East Indies in anticipation of a concerted Allied drive against Timor, Celebes, and Java after the Solomons and New Guinea have been conquered. This is the conclusion reached by Harold Guard, United Press representative in the Southwest Pacific area, after a 10 weeks' aerial tour over nearly 1,000,000 square miles of water and islands embraced in General Mac Arthur's command.

Mr. Guard adds that westward of occupied Dutch New Guinea, there is a noticeable increase of Japanese strength. "Japan's strategy does not appear to have been planned'with the invasion of Australia in mind," he

says.. "Rather it' appears that she fears Allied co-ordinated drives in the Pacific and the Far East. "In New Guinea, New Britain, and the northern Solomons area, Japanese strength is decidedly on the wane. But west of New Guinea, in Celebes, Timor, and Java, the Japanese are building up their forces and installations, and their strength is increasing at the rear of bases such as Kendari and Macassar, in Celebes. "In long flights, I saw countless small surface craft and many sizeable ships. The Japanese are building ships at Macassar, while at Surabaya Japan now has a naval base rivalling prewar Singapore. "Warships in the harbour have been identified as. American destroyers which were scuttled in 1942 and salvaged for Japan's use. "Not once in the flight did I see a Japanese naval craft larger than a light cruiser. The absence of capital ships prompts the conclusion that the Japanese battle fleet is being concentrated elsewhere for future operations."