Manawatu Evening Standard. THURSDAY, FEB. 8, 1945. BLOW AGAINST JAPAN.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LXV, Issue 60, 8 February 1945, Page 4

Manawatu Evening Standard. THURSDAY, FEB. 8, 1945. BLOW AGAINST JAPAN.

Recently British naval strength in Eastern waters mounted to such an extent that the fleet was divided, one part to operate in conjunction with the United States in the Pacific Ocean anu the other in the Indian Ocean. Evidence of this strength is to be further seen in the operations announced this week, in which the South-East Asia fleet, under the command of Admiral Sir Philip Vian of Cossack fame, struck devastating blows against Japanese held possessions in Sumatra. This is essentially a war of oil. In the air, on sea, and on land oil is vitally necessary for the efficient functioning of a war machine. Without it a belligerent must certainly collapse. Japan made her position secure for some time at least when' she drove south to capture the rich oilfields of the East Indies. Her aggression brought her rich rewards but now, with the South China Sea virtually under control of the Allies, her conquests are not so profitable. She must be deprived of what they can yield, however, and from Sir Philip Vian’s ships, including the aircraft-carriers Illustrious, Victorious, Indomitable, and Indefatigable, came the airmen who attacked these oil targets. Palembang, in Southern Sumatra, was the main theatre. From it vast quantities of refined oil have been taken to Japan since the early days of 1942, and the strong defences elected around the refineries emphasise the value placed by the Japanese Command upon their security. Three-quarters of the aviation fuel used by the Japanese comes from Sumatra whose other refineries were also dealt with in similar devastating raids. The war against Japanese shipping must steadily aggravate one of Tokio’s gravest problem's. Destruction of tankers by submarines and aircraft has greatly reduced the enemy’s capacity to transport either crude _ oil to Japan for refining or spirit from Sumatra to theatres of war. In this way a blow of_ tremendous importance is being struck against the enemy, one which, it is not inconceivable, must hasten in time the end of the Pacific war. A feature of the operations was their careful preparation and co-ordination between the several units engaged. “We want to knock out the Japs at the first opportunity,” said Admiral Sir. Bruce Eraser, Commander-in-Gliief of the Pacific Fleet, at Auckland this week. This objective, typically naval, adequately explains why Britain has such a powerful fleet with the United States warships, to take its part in the great attacks on sea and from aircraftcarriers which will come when the enemy’s fleet can be brought to bay. As it strikes, in conjunction with the United States, m the Pacific, the magnificent ships under Sir Philip Vian’s command will do their share against the enemy entrenched on Allied possessions washed by the waters of the Indian Ocean. Sumatra’s rich oilfields are now vulnerable to carrier-borne aircraft, and the damage done, during these recent strikes is an [ominous warning to Japan '•of 'what the future holds now that ! British naval strength lias been concentrated in the East.

A DARING ACHIEVEMENT

One of the war’s most daring achievements has been the release of Allied prisoners from a notorious Japanese prisoner of war camp at Cabanuan in Eastern Luzon. American commandos and Filipinos brilliantly penetrated 25 miles behind the enemy lines, destroyed the garrison, and whisked away 518 prisoners, 100 of whom were stretcher cases and had to be carried pick-a-back. The commandos and Filipinos lost 27 of their number and three were wounded, but this was an extremely small price to pay for not only a most daring operation but one involving the, greatest of hazards to all taking part. More than 500 Japanese were killed and 12 tanks were destroyed. The camp was tvell guarded with a stockade encircled by towers for the guards, barbed-wire, and machine-guns. So well was the operation handled that the attacking commandos got to within a few feet of the stockade before the enemy knew of their presence. The Filipinos played a most commendable part, their stand at the road approaches to the camp in the face of a desperate enemy assault enabling the commandos to escape with the prisoners, when their own retirement was achieved. British soldiers captured at Singapore were among the men so happily released and every one of the prisoners has a grim story to relate of Japanese inhumanity. Much of what happened in Thailand and Malaya has been narrated by survivors from a ship taking them to other enemy territory, and these latest narratives add impressive weight to the gravest charges against the Japanese, whose bestiality and gross inhumanity have stamped them as the barbarians of the East.