FIERCE FIGHTING

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20649, 27 December 1941, Page 7

FIERCE FIGHTING

MALAYAN JUNGLE THOUSANDS MOWN DOWN' SINGAPORE, Dec. 18. I am touring the northern front in Malaya, where brawny Japanese shock troops are desperately thrusting south along a road, reports a special Australian correspondent. I have watched kquadroris of Japanese bombers with fighter escorts drone overhead and seen the smoke rising from bombed Penang and from some of our advanced aerodromes. I saw a Japanese aeroplane spiral and swoop low over the tree-tops while the pilot noted the markings on our convoy. I have talked with Royal Air Force pilots—some veterans of the Battle of Britain—but I have not seen the ground fighting which is in dense jungle and shadowy rubber plantations where every, road becomes a defile and every twist may hide an ambush. Few have seen this fighting, except the men playing a nightmare game of hide and seek among the trees and swamps—stalking each other with rifle, tommy-gun, bayonet and knife. Stalking' at Night But I have talked with our men returning from the steamy hell, where the enemy is being mown down in thousands but still comes on. They do not attack frontally, but slip rouno our flanks at night in areas where rubber trees restrict visibility to a few hundred yards and reduce the. field of fire of our machine-guns. A number of troops, say 150, are told to reach a given objective in a certain time. They set out individually, and perhaps lie up at night before creeping on again.

If 50 live to reach their objective the Japanese commander is satisfied, Even the wind, rain and thunder tends to favour the attackers, for it deadens sound.

Japanese weaknesses are lack ol leadership among junior officers, and an unwillingness to launch or resist frontal attacks. They rely on superior weight of metal to carry them forward. These weaknesses will tell as soon as the British are able to face the enemy along a strongly-prepared line

“Only Curtain-raisers”

Japanese technical equipment is evidently good. Only four hours after British sappers blew up a bridge at Alor Star in the path of the advancing enemy, our aeroplanes saw Japanese moving equipment across a light temporary bridge. For Britain and her allies this is the beginning of a desperate struggle, in which the battles of Kedah and Penang are only curtain-raisers. Since their first attack the Japanese have advanced less than 100 miles at thenfarthest point. Much of this advance was uncontested, except by delaying actions, because the type of country, precludes a stand. Fresh British troops have come up to relieve our battle-weary regiments but we urgently need more fightei aeroplanes, without which our land forces cannot ensure their supply | l' nes - _ ' -