AUSTRALIA WARNED

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 77, 17 February 1942, Page 2

AUSTRALIA WARNED

JAPANESE ATTACK EXPECTED PRIM I*: MINISTER’S STATEMENT NATION MUST BE MOBILISED Canberra, Feb. 16 “The fall of Singapore opens ,i the Battle for Australia. SingaI pore is our Dunkirk.” With these warning words the Prime Minister, Mr Curtin, declared that everything we have . everything which belongs to uj i must now be mobilised. Mr Curtin said that the Gov ,j ernment was now fully convinced that a Japanese attack or i Australia was inevitable. [i “On the battle for Australia,’’ proceeded Mr Curtin, “will depend no I I merely the lute of the Commonwealth • I but the frontier of the United States ; | indeed, all the Americas, and therefor* 1 1 the late of the English-speaking world > | He would be a very dull person wh( - did not accept the fall of Singapore a: • involving a completely new situation.

“The Battle for Australia demands I j what the Battle of Britain required. ;: The service and complete devotion of ■ | Britons in the defence of their home- • j lr.nd applies with equal force to the ' Australians for the defence of Aus- ; I tralia. ‘j “Our honeymoon is over. We | must work and fight as never before. ! Every citizen has a parallel duty to , lihat of the man in the fighting forces, j Hours which were previously devoted i to sport and leisure must now be given , ; tc the duties of war.” The full Cabinet is to assemble in ' Sydney to-morrow, followed by a ! meeting of the War Cabinet which is ! regarded as the most vital in the Com- ; monwealth’s history. The Minister of the Army, Mr I-'orde, announced that secret moves which were decided on some weeks ago in the belief that Singapore would not he held—ini eluding large-scale movements of i troops and aircraft—are already ! being carried out. Mr Forde told interviewers that he , had no information as to whether Aus_ tialian troops had been moved from Singapore Island, and also that he had no further news with regard to the Australian troops in New Guinea and Amboina. —P.A. R.A.A.F. RAID ON NEW BRITAIN Canberra, Feb. IG. | A Royal Australian Air Force com- ’ munique states: “R.A.A.F. bombers raided grounded enemy aircraft and shipping at Gasmata, New Britain. They were intercepted by enemy fighters, but our bombing attack was pressed home, and a large fire was started. Enemy anti-aircraft gunfire was also encountered. All our aircraft returned safely after the completion of the successful attack.” fatefuiTmeetings ; CABINET AND WAR COUNCILS POLIC Y OF “NO SURRENDER” i (Rec. 12.45 p.m.) Sydney, This Day. A policy of “no surrender” in the most literal tense of the term is likely to be put before the people of Australia by the Federal Government after the fateful meetings of the Cabinet and the War Council j in Sydney to-day and to-morrow, j says the “Herald.” ! The Minister of the Army, Mr Forde, said it is the considered view of the I Commonwealth Government that the I situation in the Pacific is capable of ! control. The Government is doing its ■ j utmost. There is no need and no time : for dismay, although it would be foolish to try and conceal from the people j the gravity of the situation. The Australians’ existence depended on their I working or fight’’ag.—P.A.