NO RESPITE

Grey River Argus, 18 February 1942, Page 5

NO RESPITE

BEFORE SURRENDER Allowed at Singapore [Aust. & N.Z. Cable Assn.] NEW YORK, February 16. The Tokio official radio has described the surrender of Singapore /as a tense hour. It said: The first move was made by three officers, bearing a white flag to the Japanese lines. Their proposals were rejected, after which for two hours the Japanese continued to attack. Then General Percival, accompanied by Major C. H. Wilde and other members of the staff, motored to the Ford plant and met General Yamashita and others. General Yamashita said: I wish vour replies to be brief and to the point. I will listen only to unconditional surrender. Have you captured any Japanese soldiers? General Percival: None. General Yamashita: What about the Japanese civilians? General Percival: They have all been interned and sent to India. Their lives are fully protected. General Yamashita: I want to hear whether you wish to surrender. General Percival: Will you give me until to-morrow? General Yamashita: I cannot wait. General Percival: Give me five hours. General Yamashita: Then we will continue to attack meanwhile. General Percival remained silent, and General Yamashita insisted on an answer. General Percival finally said, softly, “Yes.” The Japanese report that the British troops were surrounded in Singapore city itself, and in the centre of the island, when four British officers were handed the Japanese peace terms. An armistice was finally negotiated between Lieuten-ant-General A. E. Percival, the British Commander, and LieutenantGeneral Yamashita. ,

THE FINAL STAGE.

CRETE OVER AGAIN.

SYDNEY, February 16.

The Australian Broadcasting Commission’s war correspondent, who has- arrived at Batavia from Singapore, says: “In the final stages of the attack, the Japanese disrupted the British communications. It was impossible to know . what was happening in the immediate neighbourhood. Despite Greece and Crete, where the same thing happened, there were no mobile field wireless stations. Yards of wire strung between trees could be destroyed by a single bomb, and the safety of whole battalions was endangered. Whole parties were cut off from their units, which had to withdraw from untenable positions.” The last news from the British forces in Singapore was contained ill u message by Lieutenant-General A. E. Percival, the British Commander, to General Sir Archibald Wavell, the AUied Commander-in-Chief in the South-west Pacific. It said that because of heavy losses and a , shortage of water, food, and ammunition, it was impossible to carry on the defence any longer. POPULACE BEWILDERED. LONDON, February 16. There are 1,000,000 inhabitants Still in Singapore, including 100,000 British. A telegrfam received on Saturday in London from Sir Shenton Thomas, said that there were 1,000,000 people concentrated within a radius of three miles. The water supplies were very badly damaged, and were unlikely to last more than 24 hours. The last telegram received from the Governor, probably sent about the time of the surrender, said that the civil population was quiet, but bewildered, that the passive defence | and fire services were carrying on, and that the telephone girls were still at their posts. The Japanese Dome! Agency states that Lieutenant General Yamashita, the Japanese commander, has taken full responsibility for the lives of the women and children remaining on the island. The agency adds that about 120 women and. children remained. JAPANESE ASSURANCE. BATAVIA, February 16. A Tokio message states that General Yamashita assured General Percival that Japan accepted full responsibility for the lives of the British and Australian troops, and British women and children in Singapore. He declared: “You can rely on the Japanese.”

SINGAPORE EVACUATIONS. BATAVIA, February 16. “There were no warships around Singapore when I left in a sailing vessel, which was not escorted, writes the British United Press correspondent, Harold Guard. ‘ Our ship was built to accommodate 80, but there were 675 aboard, mostly members of the R.A.F. So far as I know, no troops were evacuated from Singapore. Members of the R.N.V.R. did a magnificent job in the evacuation. To escape the Japanese bombers, many of the evacuee ships sheltered under overhanging trees in small island inlets during the day, and moved only at night. One was found by enemy bombers, and although not directly hit, splinters holed her sides.” LONDON, February 16. ' It is stated in London that there was no policy of evacuation from Singapore. The intention was to fight to the last. It is probable that the evacuation of women and children was fairly complete and that the British succeeded in taking off some of the wounded. There is no < official information from British sources regarding the evacuation of any Allied forces from Singapore, as the Japanese have been stating. The policy at Singapore was to fight to the last man, and it is stated by official quarters in London that it would be misleading to imply that there was any large-scale withdrawal of troops. Some evacuation of women and children, and wounded, however, has taken place. , The forces at Singapore included the 18th. British Division, two-thirds of the Eighth Australian Division, the Ninth and Eleventh Indian Divisions, and certain fortress troops. It is impossible to estimate the number of troops involved, as the British forces have been constantly engaged in the bitter Malayan fighting, and probably weakened by casualties.

EVACUATION OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN. LONDON, February 15. Between 7,000 and 10,000 women and children have been evacuated from Singapore. The entire staffs of the Penang and Singapore harbodr boards are known to be safe, and their wives and children have been evacuated. . Information has been received from the Governor of the Straits Settlements (Sir Shenton Thomas) .that among the women and children lof all races evacuated from Singapore by sea, more than 7,000 Euro-

pean women and children had left Singapore by January 31 for various destinations. The total estimated number of European women and children in Singapore was about 10,000. Since January 31, other parties of women and children have been evacuated as and when opportunity offered. The complete figures have not been received. No one has, of course, been prevented from sailing on account of inability to pay the passage money, and public funds have been used to meet any needs arising at the port of destination.