FALL OF SINGAPORE

Greymouth Evening Star, 18 February 1942, Page 5

FALL OF SINGAPORE

FIFTH COLUMNISTS ALLEGED

(Recd. 10.15 a.m.) LONDON,. Feb. 17. Asserting that the loss of Singapore was due at least partly to bureaucracy, complacency, and a legion of fifth columnists, the British United Press representative, Harold Guard, who is in Batavia, recalls that he wrote a story on April 18, 1941, quoting military authorities, and saying that the Malayan jungle did not offer sufficient protection against enemy infiltration. The censor passed it, but said that it was so absurd that it would make the British United Press look ridiculous. ~ “During the next four months, he says, “natives who had a grudge against the British showed the Japanese paths through the jungle thickets. I followed the battle down the Malayan Peninsula, and saw fifth columnists swarming through the jungle. I believe that, in December, the natives might have been rallied, but it did not happen. The battle of Malaya, as reported officially, might give an impression of a bitter, hard-fought, and planned defence. Actually, it was a retreat improvised from day to day.” “SCENE AN INFERNO.”

LONDON, February 17. No fresh news has been received as to events in Singapore, or as to the precise number taken prisoners. One report estimates the number at nearly 30,000. Evacuees now reaching places of safety, say that the scene was an inferno. The landscape was red from the flames of burning, oil tanks. The incessant roar of the artillery was heard over a wide area far from the battleground. GOVERNOR INTERNED. LONDON, February 16. Sir Shenton Thomas and Lady Thomas have both been interned in Singapore ci+” SINGAPORE’S NEW NAME. LONDON, February 17. Singapore has been renamed “Schonankd,” which means “Bright Father of the South,” says the Official German News Agency, quoting a message from Tokio. Japanese Imperial Headquarters announce that Singapore has been renamed “"Shonanport,” meaning “Light from the South.”

Still another agency gives it a new name “Shonank,” meaning “Shining South Port.”