Australian Troops Land at Singapore

Manawatu Times, Volume 66, Issue 44, 20 February 1941, Page 7

Australian Troops Land at Singapore

Entrain Immediately For Secret Destinations Big Japanese Concentrations Reported Nearby United Press Assn.—By Eleotric Telegraph.—Copyright. Received Wednesday, 8 p.m. SINGAPORE, February 19. Australian troops, for the first time, landed at Singapore to-day to take up positions in the Far East. They entrained immediately for secret destinations in Malaya. The contingent was the largest force of men ever to arrive in Malaya in a single convoy. Among the welcomers was Admiral Geoffrey' Layton, Com-mander-in-Chief of the China Station, who said the safe arrival of these strong reinforcements was yet another demonstration of the power given by the British command of the sea, enabling the Empire to station forces in the areas where the.v were most needed, and was also a clear indication of the growing strength of the Empire forces. A Saigon message says further Japanese reinforcements have arrived by the cruiser Nagaru, including soldiers and mechanics, to reinforce the staffs of air bases.

It is reliably stated that 80,000 to 90,000 Japanese troops are at present in Hainan and Formosa.

The ultra-nationalist newspaper Kokumin Shimbun criticised the Government’s peace-making proposal of yesterday as “a measure which did us no good but damage, erroneously picturing the nation’s firm determination before the eyes of Britain and America.” The paper added that the time was past for Japan to explain her policies, on account of the stubborn refusal of America and Britain to listen to them.

Request Rejected

Deeds Not Words AMERICA’S INTEREST IN PROFESSIONS BY JAPAN WASHINGTON, Feb. 18. Informed official circles regard Japanese statements professing a deßiro for peace throughout the world as designed to allay recent high tension over Japanese movements in the Pacific. The indications are, however, that the United States has no intention of deviating from her previously announced policy towards Japan. It was asserted to-day that before the United States could relax, deeds must accompany the Japanese words. The Assistant Secretary of State, Mr. Sumner Welles, said: “The United States is far more interested in the deeds of other nations than in statements which thoir spokesmen may make.’* More Japanese Ships In Gulf of Siam NEW YORK, Feb. 18. The Saigon correspondent of the Associated Press reports that the Japanese naval forces in the Gulf of Siam have been heavily increased in tht last twelve hours by units from Formosa. Three cruisers were pr» viously reported to be in the gulf.

SHANGHAI, Feb. 18. It u authoritatively stated that the British requested the liner President Pierce to halt at Kobe to pick up British evacuees, but the President Lines rejected the proposal, insisting that the evacuees should board the liner at Yokohama. Chiang Confident CHUNGKING, Feb. 18. General Chiang Kai-shek, in a broadcast, said: “ There is no question now that we shall emerge victorious eventually.' 9 He estimated the total Japanese casualties at 1,700,000, and urged Chinese in occupied zones to drize out opium smoking and gambling, which the Japanese were encouraging. Dutch Government RECOGNITION BY JAPAN LONDON, Feb. 18. Despite his obligations to his Axis partner, the Japanese Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs told the Diet to-day that Japan is now negotiating with the exiled Netherlands Government in London. The negotiations relate to trade with the Netherlands East Indies, and the Vice-Minister explained that the position of the Netherlands Government in London was without precedent, but it was recognised as the authority responsible for the administration of the Netherlands East Indies.