ADVICE TO TOJO

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20602, 1 November 1941, Page 5

ADVICE TO TOJO

BURMA PITFALLS TALES FROM AGENTS AMERICAN’S DOUBTS (Elec. Tel. CopyriKht—United Press Assn.) (Reed. Nov. 1, 9 a.m.) RANGOON, Oct. 31. The .importance of Rangoon, the funnel for the Burma Road and also China’s lifeline for the maintenance of her fight against Japan, is stressed in a message from an American journalist, Mr. Royal Arch Gunnison, who says that bigger things are going on in Burma to-day than most people realise —and not everything is going over the Burma Road. Discussions, he adds, are being held there and in nearby territories affecting Malaya, America ■ and the Pacific, as well as India and the Middle East. Mr. Gunnison proceeds: “Since most material going over the Burma Road comes from America to China, an American decision for the protection of this material is not out of place. This story cannot be told yet, but when it can I, as an American, can assure readers that it will be one of the most dramatic of the war. “More Than Meets the Eye” “I have been up-country in Burma and have seen air stations manned by Australians and New Zealanders. There is more in it than meets the eye. “The Japanese are trying hard to learn the British strength here by all kinds of snooping. May I address a memo, to General Tojo, the Prime Minister of Japan: ‘Deaf General: Do not believe all you hear about the Burmans being pro-Japanese. Do not believe your code agents who tell you :he Burma Road is not protected. Do not think your little scheme to stick air bases on western Indo-China and to persuade the Thais to build western air bases are all covered by the glare of the Rising Sun from the East. Do not think Uncle Sam and John Bull are concerned only with the Battle of the Atlantic. My final word: You’ve missed the bus along the Burma Road: Moreover, Thailand may not be the cinch you think.’ ”