FOOTHOLD IN BURMA

Manawatu Standard, Volume LXII, Issue 43, 20 January 1942, Page 5

FOOTHOLD IN BURMA

JAPANESE CAPTURE TAVOY ENEMY PROGRESS IN JOHORE

LONDON, Jan. 19

The latest news of the operations in the Par East indicates that the enemy have occupied the town of Tavoy, in Lower Burma, also That our forces in Western Malaya have been forced to make a further withdrawal. The news of the situation in Burma is contained in a communique issued from Rangoon.

Tavoy is situated on an estuary which opens out on the Indian Ocean 200 miles east of Rangoon and 150 miles west of Bangkok. It is an important centre of the Burmese tin industry and also has deposits of wolfram, of which the Japanese are in great need. It was earlier reported that the Imperial troops were contesting a Japanese advance along the 22-mile road between Tavoy and Myittha, in the narrow strip of south Burma which the Japanese penetrated from Thailand in an apparent effort to capture Tavoy. Occupation of Tavoy provides the Japanese with another air base from which to raid Rangoon and also a naval base from which to attack shipping in the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal.

Tn Malaya oar forces continue to meet with great pressure in the Muar area of Western Johorc. They have again been forced to withdraw.

The Japanese, maintaining their infiltration tactics, have succeeded in making further progress down the peninsula.