SIAMESE ADVANCE

Grey River Argus, 20 January 1941, Page 10

SIAMESE ADVANCE

Into Indo-China LONDON, January 17. Fierce lighting is taking place in five sectors along a one thousandmile front between Thai and French Indo-China. .Bangkok radio announced to-night that Thai troops had occupied a numiser of districts and had liberated the civil populations. From Saigon it is reported that French naval units in the first important encounter since hostilities began, sank two Thai warships and damaged a third. SIAMESE VERSION. (Received January 19, 8.40 p.m.) BANGKOK, January 18. The Siamese High Command said that the French fleet attacked the Thai fleet at Kochang on Friday. There ensued a three hour battle. Thai planes and warships drove off the French vessels, all of which were badly damaged. The Thai warships were slightly damaged. Thai forces have occupied new positions in the Aranya sector, after heavy lighting, in whiclr fcwo hundred French corpses were abandoned on the field. SIAMESE SUFFER SERIOUS LOSSES (Received January 19, 7 p.m.; \ SAIGON, January VFrench warships in the Gulf of Siam are reported to have sunk two Siamese warships. SAIGON, J'anuary 19. The French report their warships damaged also a third Siamese vessel. They also reported that six hundred Siamese have been killed and wounded in heavy lighting on the SiamJndo China Border, while French planes are reported to have bombed towns along the railway leading from the coast to Bangkok. An American oilman, arriving from the frontier to-day, said the border war was far more’serious than has been realised.