SINGAPORE AWAITS BLITZ

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24832, 4 February 1942, Page 5

SINGAPORE AWAITS BLITZ

ENEMY AIR ATTACKS DEFENCE GUNS IN ACTION DUELS ACROSS STRAIT -*-- ;;'-;■:' (UNTTED iPRESS Association) (By Electric Telegraph—Copyright); V; ; : T a.M.) , * : _ LONDON, Feb. 3. - The Singapore communique states that enemy air ,/„. activity hat been considerable in the last 24 hours. ;f' : w High-level and dive-bombing attacks caused some -":"■"" fires and damage, but casualties were slight. There wasjno.enemy ground activity. The enemy aero- - drome at Kluang was raided, and enemy motor - transport was attacked by our planes. . All our aircraft returned safely. Our massive guns pounded v enemy concentrations on the mainland. -C An earlier message said that Tokio last night announced that, there had r.seen••artilJ!ery i across the. narrow Johore Strait. There is; ' however, no -indication yet, of any direct assault onthe Air reconnaissance shows considerable' enemy movements southwards of •.Vthe mainland. '•' , --,,'' ' If bqmbers raided Japanese aerodromes 1 'at Kuala Lanipur and. Kuantari, on themainland of Malayan- Poor visibility.prevented the determination !of results. Our planes returned*.undamaged. Enemy fighter planes intercepted four of our bombers en route to attack Japanese shipping ; inßalik Papaii (Borneo).' In the/ensuing fighVnine enemy planes were Jshot-down. •-- One of our bombers was lost." ~.•:■ across Sih|appre all dajjp ftom fires started by bombs dropped-at widely separated; points.", Firemen isolated the "blazes and limitesd the damage. An officer said there were,many fingers itching on the triggers- ofrifles and machine' guns around the island. Few: illusions are -entertained concerning the next Japanese move. . Singapore both expects and is prepared for an "all-out" blitz attack : ;'fri^".aU':ihe'''mUita'ry l ' aerial arid-naval forces at the enemy's disposal. The present lull -in ground activity indicates simply that both sides .are bracing-themselves for.the next round. ■-

AW IN EAST MANY MORE ON WAY ffiec, 7 p:m.> NEW YORK, Feb.2. "On this bl&ek day one ray of • cheer is the newt that m targe .. Allied convoy has arrived safely in the Far East," said Major Eliot, commenting in, the New York :;- Herald-Tribime onVthfe 'British '.; withdrawal ?4o? Singaporelsland. He added: " Many saore , eonvbyis : *p aft on the w»y. Either Ihr tide . - will torn , within the next ,;fe% ";':V.wieeks, or It; may not .ttprn : ;.for ; ''l-'l\ years."'";£:... ■!?:-.:.;.-rl : '7-'..' ''.': ,;.''r";l'.'.'. : "' -.,1 despatches from Singapore show that the Imperial troops manning the defences along Singapore's 75-mile coastal perimeter had a quiet time to-day. • Throughout, yesterday British artillery .pounded 'the enemy movements along ■;,the "mainland -roads, but to-day, the ; ,British; guns, were Csilent. :v;Sipce.;.ihe first attempt to approach the island across the Strait of Johore, in which one craft was sunk, the Japanese have hot attempted to leave the mainland. .- The Japanese are bringing reinforcements to the southern part of Malaya, and arej attacking Singapore from .the air, though hofcyet.with intensity. The comparative quietness of the last three <vdaysisi'hotrexpected'to continue much -longerj;:'•' W.<-- 'r--.-" : '.-, V' : . .. -'. :One thousand Chinese- volunteers- for ' military service} have been' given arms • and begun training to participate i in Singapore's defence.: They will be engaged imcoastal defence. These forces are additional to the Chinese Unit in the Singapore-Volunteer Defence Corps. - The 'authorities have, also: put in motion machinery for utilising the "services of able-bodied Chinese between , the ages of 18 and 55 years; Within any Chinese niay be sum-moried-to perform any work'"arising ifrom ither emergency. Chinese conscripts will receive 2s 6d a day. VoK unteers.will.be given an additional 10 per.cent, bonus. -Chinese labourers wjll, receive food and medical attenj tionjiand a>rovisicß .has beeri made' for compensation, foriinjiiry.'^Opium will be supplied to registered smokers^"

JAPAN'S NEED QUIGK SUCCESS SINGAPORE'S IMPORTANCE (Hec.l-p.nt) v' ; LONDON, Feb. 2. The Singapore correspondent of The Times comments that Japan's moment-ous-decision to fight the democracies may be accounted the greatest gamble in history. Japan has staked- everything on quick, success, and when she launches the forthcoming .attack on Singapore :may* be: depended. pn to 'is running; a desperate race against time. Every day that. Singapore, stands -is another day lost to the enemy and another day gained to the democracies. '; The correspondent adds that, it,.... is doubtful if Japan's aeroplane.production is commensurate:with her present "losses.- -;-, -. ■ ' - A Chungking message states that the Chinese press generally is pessimistic about Britain's ability to hold Sihgar pore, but the army organ; rSaptahgPao, said the fortress could be defended if reinforcements - were ' rushed to the outer ririg of islands. It predicted that theJ Japanese would try - to surround Singapore -rather than carry out a frontal'attack. •'-• V

The New China Daily, a Communist publication, urged the" Chinese, to carry on.the war against the Japanese, even if the Burma road were cut, and also regardless. of any Tokio, peace off en - sive designed to release Japanese troops from China for. use in the Sbuth Pacific. ."Singapore may be lost and the Burma road may be cut;!' it states, "but even then our difficulties would be no-more acute than in 1940, when Britain closed the Burma road for three months.": ■ v •- , ■ "NEW JAPANESE OCEAN" TOKIO'S AIMS STATED LONDON, Feb. 2. The Swiss radio, quoting the Japanese naval headquarters spokesman, says that .Japan aims not only at the occupation' of Malaya, but the entire Dutch East Indies, thus consolidating her claim to, a new Japanese ocean, which will include the Indian Ocean, the South China Sea, and the Pacific Ocean. ~ The Tokio correspondent of the Svenska :i Daghladet, Stockholm, says the, Japanese, anticipate that their heavy; artillery and air. force will chiefly. decide the fate of Singapore, coupled with the exhaustion of supplies brought about through Japanese control of the south-west approach, which will prevent fresh arrivals. The Japanese also count on water supply difficulties. ,