Important Achievement Of Forces in Burma

Manawatu Times, Volume 70, Issue 111, 12 May 1945, Page 5

Important Achievement Of Forces in Burma

(British Official Wireless.) LONDON, May 10. The Allied forces completed two important achievements in Burma —the opening up of the port of Rangoon for supplies, and the cutting ott of all the Japanese forces west of the RangoonMandalay railway—lo days before the expected beginning of the monsoon season which will restrict all military operations for the next four months, says a Rangoon correspondent. The first deep water ships have now sailed up the mineswept Rangoon River to port. Tne Japanese northwest of Rangoon were trapped by the link-up of British and Indian troops 27 miles north of the city. The cornered enemy forces, driven southward by the Fourteenth Army, were thrust down the Irrawaddy Valley, and as they retreated Allied planes flew in to strafe their columns. Some Japanese troops have tried to break through the Allied lines to escape to the east. The general commanding the British forces has assumed the military governorship of Rangoon. He called on all Burmese for all possible assistance, saying that the British desired to restore close and cordial relations with all loyal Bur mans. The formal declaration was read Iron: the steps of Government House to a group of Burmese citizens which included representatives of the judiciary, police and municipality.