ISOLATED POST

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24808, 7 January 1942, Page 6

ISOLATED POST

AUSTRALIANS IN MALAYA THE DEFENCE OF " BOOMTOWN " SINGAPORE, Dec. 26. 1 have visited " Boomtown," a lonely outpost of the A.I.F. in Malaya, reports a Sydney Morning Herald correspondent. Isolated as these men are, their Christmas was not forgotten. If the enemy comes, the Australians will have a huge task in front of them. They all know that there is no withdrawal.

At " Boomtown " a body of Queensland infantry, backed by New South Wales gunners, have a lonely and important task to fulfil. Many miles from their fellow-troops, with a river their only communication, they are holding a boom which bars the enemy from penetrating deep into Malaya. The troops have already been in position nearly two months, confined in their small defence area of a few hundred square yards. They are surrounded by almost Impenetrable jungle, and what moving space they have has all been hacked from the jungle. Below them the allimportant river flows, sluggish and yellow: down it each day come their supplies and what little news they can get of the outside world. For the past three weeks they have waited and .sweated on their defences.

Tree-felling, digging, and wiring keep them occupied all day, and night does not bring much rest. A few hours' sleep, and up again to take their share of the relentless watch that only relaxes as the sun rises.