JAPANESE IN BURMA

Evening Post, Volume CXL, Issue 7, 9 July 1945, Page 4

JAPANESE IN BURMA

WITHDRAWAL OVER SITTANG Rec. 11 a.m. RUGBY, July 8. Flying through monsoon squalls and storms, R.A.F. Spitfires operating from advanced bases in Burma have in 20 days destroyed 75 river craft on the Sittang River, and damaged more than 300 others. Recovering from the shock of the British armoured thrust from Mecka, the Japanese have again closed the area which runs parallel with the Mandalay-Rangoon road and railway. They have established positions opposite Kunzak and south-west of Mokpalin, at the mouth of the Sittang River, in order to get as many as possible of their forces out of the area west of the Taungoo-Rangoon road. To get these troops across, the enemy has pressed into service all the local river craft, which can carry fairly large bodies of men or several tons of supplies. The Japanese have made little attempt to use the boats by day, hiding them in creeks and piling branches over them as camouflage. The Spitfires seek them out, and proofof the toll they are levying comes in the decreasing number of sampans and other craft on the Sittang. * The Japanese are using small dugout canoes, and even rafts.—B.O.W.