MORE PLANES

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20639, 15 December 1941, Page 7

MORE PLANES

NEED IN MALAYA RACE FOR SUPPLY JAPANESE ATTACKS PROGRESS AT HONG KONG (Elec. Tel. Copyright—United Press Assn.) (Reed. Dec. 13, 2 p.m.) LONDON, Dec. 12. Malaya needs more fighter and bomber planes and needs them urgently, says the Australian Associated Press special correspondent at Singapore. That is the principal lesson emerging from the experience of the first four days of the Pacific war. The fight for Malaya may develop into a race between the American supply ships and the ability of the Japanese to continue the attacks on the present scale against the Malayan aerodromes, particularly Kotabaru, where Hudson bombers, after operating as bombers were then obliged to act as fighters. The sooner the necessity for sending clouds of planes to Malaya is realised the sooner the British fortunes on this front will change for the better. There is news of the Malayan and Hong Kong fighting. In the Kedah frontier area of Malaya, the enemy has been infiltrating forward and the British forces have withdrawn to prearranged positions. Fairly heavy air attacks on Penang, on the west coast, some 70 miles south of the frontier, caused no military damage. Enemy activity in north-east Malaya is confined to patrols and reports that other enemy forces have landed at Kuala, Trengganu and Dungun are unconfirmed. Withdrawal to Kowloon

At Hong Kong the British forces, owing to pressure on some of the advanced positions, are withdrawing from these according to plan towards Kowloon. Chinese forces are operating in the vicinity of the frontier of the colony to the west, but it is not known whether they at the moment are affecting the Japanese operations. According to a Netherlands East Indies communique, no hostilities have taken place with the Netherlands territories’ units. The Netherlands Indies navy is actively participating in Allied actiomon sea and in the air. An Australian Hudson bomber, stationed in Netherlands territory, sank the Japanese schooner Nuya Maru.

Burma had its first air raid to-day when planes bombed a locality in Tenasserim division causing seven casualties and slight damage. The German news agency, quoting Japanese Imperial Headquarters, stated that Japanese aircraft on Thursday attacked a British convoy near Penang and sank one ship and seriously damaged four. Japanese headquarters have announced a military alliance between Japan and French Indo-China. A report from Batavia says that six Australian bombers successfully raided the Japanese air base at Tobi between Mamado and Paloa.