TROOPS ON ISLAND

New Zealand Herald, Volume 79, Issue 24202, 18 February 1942, Page 7

TROOPS ON ISLAND

MANY EEGIMENTS

BRITISH AND EMPIRE WAR OFFICE STATEMENT LONDON, Feb. 16 The War Office states that the British Imperial Forces which took part in the Malayan campaign and the defence of Singapore included ' the following:— i The 18th British Division, made up of the 53rd, 54th and 55th Infantry Brigades. The division included battalions of the following infantry regiments: The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers, the Royal Norfolk Regiment, the Cambridgeshire Regiment, the Suffolk Regiment, the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiments, and the Sherwood Foresters. The 22nd and 27th Brigades of the Bth Australian Division. The 9th and 11th Indian Divisions, which contained battalions of the following British regiments: The Ist Surrey Regiment, the Leicestershire Regiment and the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. It also contained battalions of the following Indian regiments: The Punjab Regiment, the Jat Regiment, the Rajputana Rifles, the Royal Garhwal Rifles, the Dogra Regiment, the Baluch Regiment, the Hyderabad Regiment, the Sikh Regiment, the Frontier Force Regiment, the Fron • tier Force Rifles, the Gurkha Rides, and battalions •of the Indian State forces. The Ist and 2nd Malay Infantry Brigades, containing battalions of the following British regiments, as well as Indian and Malayan battalions: The Royal Regiment, the Gordon- Highlanders, the Manchester Regiment. Besides artillery regiments included in the above field formations, "there were a number of coast artillery units, anti-aircraft regiments, anti-tank regiments and searchlight units. In addition to engineer units included in the field formations, there were a number of fortress companies and army troop companies. v The foregoing also included the RoyaJ Corps of Signals, the Royal Army Service Corps, the Royal Army Medical Corps and auxiliary services. A number of local battalions also took part in the defence of the island. LANDING IN JAVA REPORTS NOT CREDITED AN ATTACK EXPECTED (Heed. ll.!20 p.m.) BATAVIA, Feb. 17 German reports that the Japanese have landed in Java are ridiculed in Batavia, although an attack is expected. "Let Singapore's fall We a lesson to all of us never again to expect help from outside, but to have confidence in our j own power, as General Mac Arthur and' his heroes have done and still do, in the Philippines," says an editorial article in the newspaper Java Bode. The Nieuws van den Tag says: "Singapore and Malaya fell, not because of Japanese superiority, but because of their own weakness. The situation of the Indies, however, is slightly different. Our strength lies in the fact that we have trusted solely in ourselves. Therefore the fall of Singapore does not make us lose our heads. "We don't gamble and we don't bluff. Our strength is built on reality. We | have real chances in this game of life and death." CHINA'S CAUSE INDIA IN SYMPATHY (Reed. 10.5 p.m.) NEW DELHI, Feb. 17 Jawaharlal Nehru, leader of the Congress Party, had a lengthy interview with the Chinese leader, Marshal Chiang Kai-shek. He subsequently said that, even if the Burma Road were cut, China would not be crippled. A® new road from India to Chungking was nearly finished. India was in complete sympathy with China. He added: "Under no circumstances will we suffer France's fate. We are not going to submit to Japanese aggression " SHIPPING ATTACKED SYDNEY, Feb. Itt An Australian air communique reports that Japanese aircraft unsuccessfully attacked Allied shipping in the Timor Sea. Australian aircraft carried out a reconnaissance over a Japanese occupied island and bases in the Bismarck Archipelago. A small-scale Japanese reconnaissance was carried out over the south coast of Papua on Simday. No bombs were dropped. SINGAPORE RENAMED (Reed. 11.20 p.m.) LONDON, Feb. 17 Singapore ha 3 been renamed Schonanko, meaning "Bright Father of the South," says the Berlin official news agency quoting a message from Tokio,