MANDALAY FALLS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25800, 22 March 1945, Page 5

MANDALAY FALLS

FORT DUFFERIN CAPTURED LAST JAPANESE FLEE COLOMBO, Mar. 20. Fort Dufferin has been capiured, and the whole of Mandalay is in our hands. About 300 Japanese, including the regimental headquarters, left the fort last night, and Indian troops entered at lunch time to-day. The Australian Associated Press correspondent in Burma' says that five Burmans walked out of the northern gate of the fort at 12.45 carrying a white flag and a Union Jack. They said the Japanese had deserted the fort. Troops of the Nineteenth Division entered through a breach in the walls. Empty foxholes' snowed where the defenders of the ramparts had taken cover during bombing. Hundreds of cases left behind seemingly containing ammunition were feund to contain horseshoes. The news that the Japanese departed last night tallies with the report of a motor transport column which was fired upon by Gurkhas. The Japanese, with some bravado, sent out parties to “ jitter ” our troops on the northern and eastern sides. No casualties resulted. Thete was much movement in the railway station area, and motor transport was heard moving to the south-east away from tnis spot. It is believed that there are still Burmans and interned British within the fprl. Before it was known that the Japanese had left the fort an air attack was carried out. One wave of bombers entirely missed the fort area and caused several casualties among our own troops.

The firing of King Thibaw’s Palace, relic the last Burmese monarchy, yesterday will rob the capture of Fort Dufferih of some of its historical interest. Shortly after experimental bombing of the walls huge columns of black smoke were seen rising into the air from the centre of the fort some distance from the bombing. The stoiy is put forward that the palace was fired by the Japanese as an act of revenge