INDIAN TROOPS

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 21961, 4 March 1946, Page 4

INDIAN TROOPS

JAVA WITHDRAWAL NO ORDER RECEIVED DESERTIONS REPORTED '(9 a.m.) BATAVIA, March 1. An Allied Headquarters spokesman, according to Dutch sources, said no order for the evacuation of troops from Java had yet been received. He •was commenting on General Sir Claude Auchinleck’s statement on February 28 that the withdrawal of Indian troops would begin to-day. The spokesman added that any orders for a move would come from Admiral Lord Louis Mountbattcn. The departure of the Indians, who formed the bulk of the troops under the British Command in Java, would involve immediate replacement —obviously by Dutch troops—but no replacements had been arranged so far. It is reliably reported that desertions of Moslem Indian troops from the British Indian forces have reached serious proportions. Some men have written to their commanders explaining the reasons for going over to the Indonesians. A Dutchman who escaped from the Indonesians after being kidnapped, declared that Japanese officers were directing the training of the Idonesian regular army behind the lines. He said he saw, south of Bandoeng. 100 Japanese apparently fully equipped and Japanese-manned tanks on the roads.