2330 MEN SAVED

New Zealand Herald, Volume 78, Issue 24147, 13 December 1941, Page 11

2330 MEN SAVED

LONDON. Dec. 11 tam East Indies Army j®munique reports that Australian •tp b" S raided the Japanese air base

LOST BRITISH SHIPS ADMIRAL PHILLIPS MISSING THEORIES ABOUT SINKINGS (Reed.* 5.5 p?.m.) LONDON. Dec 11 An Admiralty communique states that a report has now been received from Singapore that approximately 130 officers and 2200 ratings have been saved from the Prince of Wales and Repulse. Exact figures are not yet available owing to the fact that injured men have been dispersed among several hospitals. The total complements were approximately:—Prince of Wales, 110 officers and 1515 ratings; Repulse, 60 officers and 1240 ratings; total, 170 officers and 2755 ratings. It is learned in London that Admiral Sir Tom Phillips, Commander-in-Chief of the Eastern Fleet, is among those reported missing in the sinking of the Prince of Wales.

Admiral Sir Geoffrey Layton, com-mander-in-chief on the China Station, has taken command of the Eastern Fleet. fn spite of the injunction by a leading article in the Times to withhold speculation on how the Prince of Wales and Repulse were sunk until fuller information is available, press naval and aviation experts advance a welter of theories in an effort to answer the widespread public questioning. Many commentators incline to the belief' that Japanese "suicide squads" were responsible for the sinkings. The naval correspondent of the Times says: "It appears likely that torpedoes, as well as bombs, were used. The Japanese press reports that aerial torpedoes were used against Pearl Harbour, where airmen 'flung their machines at their objectives' without expecting to return alive. "There is no reason to doubt the reports. Such fanatical tactics, which are characteristic of the Japanese, should produce a higher percentage of hits than the usual method."