THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES Wednesday, February 11, 1942. SINGAPORE AT BAY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24838, 11 February 1942, Page 4

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES Wednesday, February 11, 1942. SINGAPORE AT BAY

There will have been no element of surprise in the landing of Japanese forces oh Singapore Island. The defenders were prepared for this development of the enemy's attack, which was preceded by much air activity on his part and a prolonged and heavy artillery duel across the Strait of Johore. Although the Japanese have so promptly contrived to land troops under cover of darkness and storm it does not follow that their efforts to consolidate the'foothold they have gained on the island will meet with easy success. What has to be remembered in the first place is that the erierny is racing against time in his attempt - to reduce the fortress which stands in the way of his wider grasp of strategic points throughout the archipelago. It blocks, partly, his most direct route to the key bases in the Netherlands Indies, and it is a link, for what our present sea power is worth in those perilous waters, with both Burma and India. The enemy knows that he must have speed as well as weight in attack if the island is to fall into his hands before reinforcements can arrive to add to the hazards of a venture undertaken on the assumption that he can keep open-his own, long lines of communicatiqn. There is reason to believe that additional air and land forces are already available for the defence oi Singapore, and it is very certain that other 'military, naval and air units, are on the way. In Washington, "oh; January; 21, it was suggested, that the initiative would pass to the Allies provided Singapore and the Indies could hold out for a mights ;be unwise to accept that statement at its face value, but it may at least be regarded as reliable to indicate that the Allied command is moving with all possible haste to repair the deficiencies in defence that were revealed in the Japanese over-running 6t the Malayan mainland. It may be assumed, also, that the invaluable time gained during the stubborn withdrawal of the Allied forces from Malaya was not wasted on the island itself. The land fortifications there have not been hastily improvised. On the contrary, they are, in the main, the work:of many years: While it is true that the heaviest defensive armament- was mounted to guard against the menace of assault from the seaward approaches, attack from . the Johore side was always foreseen as" a possibility. On the western coast, where the first Japanese landing has been effected, strong fortified posts are in existence, and it will be in these, built in mangrove swamps arid planted areas, that the Australians and Indians are now opposing the invaders;; It is along :-the comparatively short stretches of the northern arid ? western coasts that the greatest danger of attack by enemy forces ferried across the Strait of Johore must lie, and it is pfobabiy in this area that defensive preparations have been- concentrated in recent months. The island, in its southern and eastern aspects, faces the-6pen sea, and the coastline there is so well guarded that attempts to land troops'would stand little chance of success. As for the aerial position, - it has to be recognised that Japan is now so disposed, with powerful air forces and numerous ■ conveniently - placed landing fields, as to be able to deliver persistent and punishing blows at key points across the island. These, may be difficult to withstand and equally difficult to counter, for we cannot yet be anything like able to, match the enemy's air strength in this vital He has already claimed to have landed air-borne troops, and he will inevitably strive ''. to" strike at the island's sources of water supply, arid in other ways to weaken civilian as well as military morale. We do riot know yet whether the main air fields Will prove tenable or usable under; the unremitting attack to which '■/' they 'will be •, subjected, strongly: as those at Seletar* Sembawang and Kalang are defended. It ,has already been implied that the air force : has(moved from its ; chief bases to others from which it can operate more. safely and without loss Of effectiveness. If that is so, and provided air reinforcements arrive to give the defenders something like parity With the enemy iri the battle area above the island, we may, rest assured that Singapore will give a good account of itself in the grim days that lie ahead. That they will be grim days, days charged with the heaviest anxiety for onlookers as well as participants in the terrific struggle that is developing, we can unfortunately have no doubt at all. V