IRRAWADDY BRIDGEHEADS

Evening Star, Issue 25422, 1 March 1945, Page 5

IRRAWADDY BRIDGEHEADS

ENEMY DEFENCE LINE BROKEN STIFF FIGHTING IN OILFIELD AREA COLOMBO, Feb. 27. " The Fourteenth Army's sudden swoop on Pagan has broken the Japanese lrrawaddy defence line at its westernmost point, and brought us within little more than 300 miles from Rangoon," says the Australian Associated Press correspondent. " The_ Japanese apparently expected trouble in the oilfield area, but when the assault came its magnitude, speed, and direction caught them napping. " They reacted quickly, however, and are still fighting stiffly. ' Although the oilfields would be an immensely rich prize, it is unlikely that they would be of much use for a considerable time. They were completely destroyed before the' evacuation in < 1942, and the Japanese did little with the wreckage until late in 1943.

" In other bridgehead areas there is little change, although advances continue to be made by the Twentieth and Nineteenth Indian Divisions in the northern combat area. Troops who crossed the Namtu River south of Namtu are now about six miles from the other force moving down the road from Namtu itself towards Lashio. They are only 22 air miles from Lashio—about the same distance as the troops moving south along the Burma Road'. The Japanese are fighting stubbornly, using a substantial number of. tanks and taking full advantage of the ter-' rain, which offers them good defensive positions." Though to the outside world the progress of the present phase of the Mandalay operation may not appear spectacular in terms of miles covered, it is spectacular in terms of enemy losses, says the Associated Press correspondent. Since January 1 the Fourteenth Army on the lrrawaddy front has killed 3,552 Japanese and captured 37.