UTMOST EFFORT

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 77, 24 January 1942, Page 5

UTMOST EFFORT

TO HALT JAPANESE APPEAL TO UNITED STATES AUSTRALIAN MINISTER'S BROADCAST New York, Jan. 22. The Australian Minister to Washington, Mr Casey, in a broadcast said, “The utmost effort—at once—is needed to halt the Japanese. They can be stopped if we all put our minds to it. None of us—neither you nor we—can afford to let the Japanese get any further. i We must fight for every inch everywhere. It is going to be 10 times harder to get it back than to stop its being lost.” Mr Casey said it might be argued ' that the war against the Axis cannot be : finally won in the Pacific; however, it ' might well be lost in the Pacific. “If we let the Japanese get away with j things in the Far East, they may get intothe Indian Ocean, and then it may be next to impossible to beat the Axis as they should be beaten.” he said. “Don’t let us take this Japanese busi- ! ness easily. It is not going to be j easy.” Mr Casey issued a warning that Australia ‘‘may be just on the verge of invasion” and appealed to the United : States “not to let us down.” The “New York Times” in an edi- ( torial says that the deadly threat to j ■ Australia's safety is also a threat to I i the United States of America. “Aus-! tralians have earned the fullest mea- j < sure of help it is possible for us to - give them,” it says.—U.P.A. FIGHTING ON EAST COAST POSSIBILITY OF SECOND THRUST INFILTRATION FROM NORTH London, Jan. 23. A Singapore message says that the positions of the Imperial troops on the northern and western fronts have undergone little change. Fighting is still proceeding in the western sector, and fighting has begun in the east coast area, to which the enemy is believed to have filtered f*om the north. There is apparently increasing contact in this area, with the possibility of the Japan- ; est developing a second thrust toward Singapore. The Indian force which is holding a section of the northern front successfully ambushed Japanese bicycle troops and killed 30. The Japanese infiltration tactics are ; Rtill proving effective in some sections : on the west coast. They have apparently abandoned their attempts to break through in the north, and have 1 turned aside, endeavouring to make a by-pass down the coast by disappearing in the jungle in small parties and reappearing behind the British lines. DIRKC- ASSAULTS AGAIN A later message from Singapore says that on the west, coast the enemy has thrown in additional troops and has changed his infiltration tactics into h direct assault on the defenders’ flank. The Australians have taken a heavy toll of the enemy tanks, and the Japanese are relying on gun-carriers to sustain their mechanical drive. A number of troops cut off in the Japanese drive down the peninsula are ! continuously making their way back to the lines. A disturbing feature of the situation i c *' the Japanese are still laying hands on enough shipping to enable ! them to continue their flanking and j infiltration tactics along the coast j down to an area about 50 miles north- ! west of Singapore. Major-General Bennett gave an ob- j server the irr;:rr ":<n that he was very proud of the way the Australians were acquitting themselves. British county regiments are fighting side by side with Australian and Indian troops in Malaya. They are the East Surreys, the Leicesters, the Manchesters. the Gordons, and the Argyll ; and Sutherland Highlanders. Other units operating in Malaya are the ■ Royal Marines, the Malaya Regiment, ; and. from India, the Hyderabad Regi- ; rnent and a Punjab motorised unit. — ’ U.P.A. ENCIRCLING MOVE j < DEFENDERS’ WITHDRAWAL London, Jan. 23. j An analysis of this morning's | report from Singapore indicates ; that the Imperial forces arc mak- i ing a general withdrawal from the ; various areas in which operations I are taking place. It is learned in ] London that the Japanese are attempting an encircling movement. The nearest point to Singapore reached by the enemy is probably still Batu Pahat. During an attack on Singapore yesterday by 54 heavy bombers escorted by fighters defence planes shot down six of the enemy and probably two j others. Fifty-eight persons were killed and 170 injured. j,