Ridicule Stones Of Japanese Landings In Java

Northern Advocate, 18 February 1942, Page 3

Ridicule Stones Of Japanese Landings In Java

[■British Official Wirelessl (Rec. noon. RUGBY, Feb. 17

Authoritative quarters in London state that there is no confirmation of the report that the Japanese have landed on Java, and there is very little likelihood of the report being true. German reports that the Japanese have landed in Java are ridiculed, in Batavia, although an attack is expected. “Let Singapore’s fall be a lesson to all of us never again to expect help frrm outside, but to have confidence in our own power, as General MacArthur and his heroes have done, and still do. in the Philippines,” says an editorial article in the newspaper “Java Bode.” The “Nieuws van den Tag” says: “Singapore and Malaya fell, not because of Japanese superiority, but because of their own weakness. The situation of the Indies, however, is slightly different. Our strength lies in the fact that we have trusted solely in ourselves. .Therefore the fall of Singapore does not make us lose our heads.

“We don’t gamble and we don’t bluff. Our strength is built on reality. We have real chances in this game of life and death.”