ALLIED TANKS ACTIVE

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 80, 24 December 1945, Page 5

ALLIED TANKS ACTIVE

INTERMITTENT BATTLE IN JAVA DAILY TOLL OF LIFE Batavia, Dec., 22. Allied tanks were active to-day tt Kramat, where an intermittent battle has been raging for 36 hours. Five members of the R.A.F. were killed and two wounded when Indonesians in this area fired on the truck in which the victims were returning from a football match. Indonesian • are now sniping from tree-tops and from native huts. The Netherlands news agency estimates that the maintenance of law and order'in Java takes a daily toll of three or four killed. One British officer and one Gurkha were killed during clearing operations in northern Bandoeng, where 17 Indonesians were taken prisoner. Twelve bodies were found lying in a ricefield with their throats cut. They are believed to be some of 27 Eurasians whom the Indonesians abducted. The self-styled Indonesian Premier, Mr Sjahrir, announced that the T.K.R. (the Indonesian Peace Preservation Corps) has agreed to undertake the transfer of Japanese from the interior to British hands. 4 “If the plan works out to British satisfaction, the Indonesian Government is also prepared to guarantee the removal of Dutch internees to British areas for evacuation from Java.” DUTCH GOVERNMENT STATEMENT London, Dec., 21. A Netherlands Government statement on the situation in Java was made this afternoon by the Minister for Overseas Territories. According to a radio report, the statement said that the Allies would continue to limit themselves strictly to the" task given them by the Allied Supreme Command, that was, to disarm the Japanese and the liberation and protection cf prisoners of war. The statement said that thfe N ‘therlands forces in the east were at the disposal of the supreme Allied commander, and that he bore the responsibility for what thv were used fur. They were already in action in Batavia as well as in various other parts. The statement said that the Netherlands Government wanted to state clearly that it had sought a road for discussion and that it would continue to do so.