The Northern Advocate “NORTHLAND FIRST” Registered for transmission through the post as a Newspaper THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 1942. Burma And Philippines

Northern Advocate, 9 April 1942, Page 2

The Northern Advocate “NORTHLAND FIRST” Registered for transmission through the post as a Newspaper THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 1942. Burma And Philippines

IT is evident from today’s news that the Japanese are making desperate efforts to improve their position in Burma and the Philippines. So far as Burma is concerned, it would seem that the enemy is "nolding the biggest cards, and is seriously threatening the British defenders. Reports do not make good reading.

The British have been compelled to make another retirement in order to readjust their line, and a British press correspondent utters a warning that if air reinforcements in considerable quantity are not provided quickly the result may be “woeful.” This statement may have been framed with the object of speeding up the despatch of planes, but it is to be assumed that the heads of the United Nations are doing everything possible to secure reinforcements.

However, the oilfields of Burma are apparently in danger of falling into Japanese hands unless, as has already been suggested is being done, the fields .are destroyed. While this would unquestionably rob the enemy of a source of fuel which he urgently needs, it would also deprive the Allies of supplies which they can ill afford to lose. Further news from Burma will be awaited with great interest, for the threat to India represented by the Japanese advance cannot be contemplated with equanimity.

In the Philippines, the Japanese continue to make violent attack upon the defenders of the Batan peninsula and the island of Corregidor, which stand as sentinels guarding Manila Bay. A desperate battle has raged for five days. The enemy has been strongly reinforced but, though he has at some points dented the American line, he has been unable to increase his hold on the Philippines. The Americans, outnumbered on land and in the air, are making a magnificent stand, though casualties on both sides are reported to be very heavy.

This reflects the importance which possession of the Batan peninsula means to both America and Japan, and it may be accepted that the enemy is prepared to pay dearly before relinquishing efforts to oust the defenders. The Philippines, if in the undisputed control of Japan, would constitute a most serious threat to the stability of the structure which the United Nations are attempting to rebuild. The outcome of the battle for the Batan peninsula, like the struggle in Burma, is therefore a matter of first importance at the present juncture.