“A STEAMING HELL”

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 64, Issue 4527, 23 January 1942, Page 5

“A STEAMING HELL”

FIGHTING IN MALAYA HIDE-AND-SEEK TACTICS JAPANESE HARAKIRI WAR (By Douglas Wilkie in the “Melbourne Argus.”) MALAYA, December 20. I have been touring the northern front in Malaya, where brawny Japanese shock troops are making desperate thrusts south along the road. I have watched squadrons of Japanese bombers, with fighter escorts, drone overhead. I have seen the smoke rising from bombed Penang and from some of our bombed advanced aerodromes. I have watched a Japanese aeroplane spiral down and swoop low over the treetops while the pilot noted the markings of our convoy. I have talked with the Royal Air Force pilots, some of them veterans of the Battle of Britain. A NIGHTMARE GAME But I have not seen ground fighting. It is not that sort of war. It is terrain where dense jungle and shadowy rubber plantations make all operations akin to night operations, where every road becomes a defile, where every twist in the winding roads may hide an ambush. Few see the fighting except the men who are playing this nightmare game of hide-and-seek among the trees and swamp land, stalking each other with rifle and tommy-gun, bayonet, and knife. But I was given an interview by a corps commander at advanced headquarters, within a few miles of the firing line, and I talked with our men returning from the steaming hell, where the enemy is being mowed down in thousands, but still comes on. All are agreed on one thing. Japan is fighting a harakiri national war with her expected fanaticism. DESPERATE STRUGGLE For Britain and the Allies it is the beginning of a desperate struggle, of which the battle for Kedah, and for Penang, was only a curtain-raiser. British casualties have been slight. This has been confirmed by interrogation by Japanese prisoners. Much of the Japanese advance has not been contested, except by delaying action, because the lay-out of the country precludes a stand. Meanwhile fresh British troops have been brought up to the north to relieve the battle-weary regiments who have borne the brunt of the Japanese onslaught. This is, the credit side of the picture. The other side is the urgent need for more air reinforcements, especially fighters, without which our land forces cannot make secure their supply lines. The Indians have given the foe a taste of his own medicine, and have successfully countered the Japanese tactics. Other British units are n&W taking up this specialised type of jungle warfare. FIGHTING IN THE JUNGLE About four-fifths of Malaya is jungle and one-ninth is comprised of rubber plantations. The Japanese have adapted their training and equipment well to this fighting, which they practised in Indo-China and in Formosa. They are using midget carriers for traversing the jungle tracks, backed up on roads by armoured cars, and by some light tanks; They are using some heavy artillery, but mostly mortars, with small arms, including tommy-guns. The carriers are proving an easy mark for anti-tank rifles and fire-bottles. The Japanese apparently are following the Asiatic belief that plenty of noise helps to win battles. Our troops have not been impressed. The Japanese strength, apart from their numerical superiority, apparently lies in the resourcefulness and mobility of their infantry, and their successful application of infiltration tactics in the jungle. Many of the Japanese troops advance to the attack dressed in khaki shorts, tennis shoes, and singlet, with tin hat or kerchief on the head. Tom-my-guns rest on their hips. They filter thrtragh rubber plantations and jungle, preferably through the plantations, which provide fairly easy ground, but restrict visibility to 250 yards and reduces the field of fire for our machine-guns. GAINS BY INFILTRATION The Japanese do not attempt frontal attacks on strongly-held positions. They seek to infiltrate, often at night, round the flanks. Japanese infantry units show little cohesion. They prefer to depend upon individual initiative. Apparently a number of troops, say, 150, is told to reach a given objective by a certain time. They set out individually, perhaps lying doggo all night before creeping on. If 50 live to reach the objective the Japanese commander is satisfied. It is believed the Japanese are well equipped against malaria with supplies of the drug atabrin. They imported 50,000,000 tablets of atabrin yearly before the war. The Japanese soldier’s powers of endurance and his few bodily requirements assist him in these, tactics. Contrary to popular belief, the thick country does not favour static defence. Attack must be met by defence in depth, with a tactical counter-of-fensive. Even the wind, rain, and thunder prevalent in Malaya at present tend to favour the attackers, as they deaden sound. The Japanese are unwilling to launch, or resolutely resist, frontal attacks, even when such attacks are warranted. They shirk close fighting, except of the guerilla type. They rely on superior weight of metal to carry them forward. These weaknesses will tell as soon as the British are able to face the enemy along a strongly-prepared line.