DUTCH CLAIM SWIFT GAINS: MEAGRE DETAILS

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22826, 22 December 1948, Page 5

DUTCH CLAIM SWIFT GAINS: MEAGRE DETAILS

(10.10 a.m.)

BATAVIA. Dec. 21

Though reports from usually reliable sources indicate that the Dutch offensive in Java and Sumatra has gone ahead very rapidly, at least by road, the official communique today, which is the only operational information that correspondents are permitted to trans-mit,-gives only very meagre details of the advance.

The military spokesman declined to confirm reports that Dutch mechanised brigades from Semarang have occupied Soerakarta, the second Republican city in mid-Java and have linked up with the paratroops around Jogjakarta. The spokesman likewise refused to confirm unofficial reports that Dutch ground forces advancing from Padang, West Java, have almost reached Boekittinggi (Fort Dekok) against little resistance and that at least one well is ablaze at the East Java oil centre of Jepoe which was occupied by Dutch Marines yesterdayMeanwhile the only indication of the manner in which the Dutch forces are using their superior weapons comes from an American civilian, Mr. George Kahin, who was evacuated from Jogjakarta by Dutch Army aircraft on Sunday. He said the Dutch bomber objectives in Jogjakarta but not indiscriminately and also strafed vehicles in the streets.

The fighting, which began soon after noon on Sunday when Dutch airborne troops entered the city, lasted about half an hour. The airborne troops included a large number of Amboinese.