DEFENCE OF BURMA

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24835, 7 February 1942, Page 7

DEFENCE OF BURMA

ALLIES' PLANS A CONFIDENT NOTE ENEMY HELD AT SALWEEN (Rec. 10.50 p.m.) RANGOON, Feb. 5. A military spokesman said: "Even if Rangoon falls we have plenty of things up our sleeves by which to keep supplies reaching China. The Japanese progress is unlikely to be allowed to continue much farther. We have a well-thought-out plan for coun-ter-actions." British patrols from the.west bank of the Salween crossed the river and penetrated the Japanese lines at Moulmein. Japanese patrols crossed the lower Salween at a number of points. Paan in Enemy Hands A British Army communique reports a quiet day at Martaban, except for slight shelling. One British patrol made a bayonet charge against an enemy force and inflicted casualties. The British casualties were slight. A spokesman disclosed that Paan has been in .enemy hands for several days. This does not mean that they have crossed the Salween River. The Tokio radio claims that the Japanese forces in Central Burma have reached a point 75 miles from Lashib The Burma Road The Berlin radio quoted a Bangkok report that the railway station at Toungoo has been destroyed and that the Mandalay line has been cut in several places as a result of Japanese air raids. It is claimed that this attack, effectively cut the Burma road. Japanese bombers twice raided Rangoon before dawn. ; Minor civilian damage was done, but no fatal casualties are reported. STRATEGIC SITUATION LONG-TERM ACTIVITIES "AN ENCOURAGING PICTURE " (Rec. 9 p.m.) WASHINGTON, Feb. 5. In a statement to the press, a member of the Foreign Relations Committee of the Senate said that the Secretary for War, Mr H. L. Stimson, and the Secretary for the Navy, Colonel Frank Knox, had given the committee at secret hearings a full report on the strategic situation in the Far East "It was an encouraging picture insofar as long-term activities are concerned," the committee member said. Colonel Knox declined to comment to reporters on the announcement of the Allied Commander-in-chief in the south-west Pacific, that aid from Britain and the United States was being hurried to Singapore. "I honestly don't know the answer to that one," Colonel Knox said. ~ SACRED COWS CALCUTTA A.R.P. PROBLEM (Rec. 7 p.m.) CALCUTTA, Feb. 5. Sacred cows are. the major worry of members of the A.R.P. who are doing their utmost to organise protection for the population. Sacred cattle freely roam the city's streets and there is the possibility that they will stampede in the native;quarters during an air raid. Calcutta is thoroughly organising its air. :raid precautions;- White buildings are being painted black, shop fronts are being sandTbagged and trenches dug in the parks. Hundreds of refugees have arrived from Burma, but many more hundreds of residents have gone up country because Calcutta is only four hours' flight from the Japanese bases in Thailand. v Three thousand five hifndred evacuees have arrived in Madras. Of this number 200 came from Malaya and the rest-from Burma. ,