WAR IN THE PACIFIC

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 85, Issue 295, 15 December 1941, Page 5

WAR IN THE PACIFIC

FIERCE BATTLE AT HONGKONG FIGHTING IN MALAYA AND IN THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS lßy Telegraph—T: cm AstoHat. r.—Copyright I (Re<-<l. 11 4"> pin. London. Dec. 14. Fierce fighting is raging round th< British base hi Hongkong. where picked Chinese troops are reported to be aiding the British from the north. In .Malaya there ■» m us of th. mowing use of Royal Air Force planes in ass'sting British troops. It is reported from •Japan that troops from Burma ar. in contact with the enemy j across the Thailand border. renaeioiis fighting is going on in the Philippines, where the populace, realising th< importance of this United States outpost, j ;s sacrificing everything in a stand against the invaders. So tar the definders have stt.-ei ssfttlly held attacks at bay. There is reason to believe that the United States Island of Guam has fallen to the enemy, but Midway and \V.ik< islands are reported to he .still in I'nited States hands. On the United States home front, tit. nation is steadily moving into its full war stride- Huge appropriations are being a*,;, d t..i to increase t - fig I . - - and Axis shipping is being Seized.

< need. 6.30 p m». Washington. Dec. 12. The Arm\ Recruiting Service to-day appealed for 20.000 Air Force applications monthly from men aged 20 to 26 for training to meet the war's increasing needs. President Roosevelt to-day summoned Mr. Cordell Hull. Secretary of State. Mr. Henry Stimson. Secretary of War. and a group of naval officials for a special conference. Publication of testimony taken by the Senate Appropriations Committee disclosed to-day a charge by Senator Thomas that the air detector* service was not operating when the Japanese attacked last Sunday nt Pearl Harbour. There ha\e been no further reports of enemy activities in Hawaii. Japanese < laini Another Battleship. A Tokio communique claims that the United States battleship Arizona was sunk off Hawaii in addition to the two I’nited States battleships already reported sunk. The Navy Department has notified the American Federation of Labour that more than 100 U members of its i

budding trades unions were taken prisoner when Midway and Guam Islands were attacked by the Japanese. CHUNGKING, Dec 13—The Chinese claim tn have recaptured Senchuan. a strategic point north of Hongkong. The Japanese spokesman in Nanking claimed that more reinforcements have landed in Malaya. “The British so far have offered only feeble resistance,” he said. Chineve Foret* Ready io Move. Chinese forces are massed along the border of French Indo-China prepared to move in if necessary. They are | making other huge concentrations towards Burma, says the Ampres* cor- ' respondent. The Chinese Press predicted n fulldress Allied al tack or. Japan in Fcbtu- ■ ary. “when Japan will fade as the | cherrv hlo«om>» heam in hlnnm “ i ( hin* m* Round Hongkong. The United Press correspondent re- i ports that crack Chine e troops at- J tacked Japanese forces along the Cant on-How loon railway. outside Hongkong. the Chinese military spokesman said to-day. Violent engagements are in progress. Chinese destruction squads are destiny mg bridges and telephone lines in the Japanese rear. Tokio Imperial headquarters said the Japanese lost 3i» planes in the Hawaii attack, which occurred during a heavy rainstorm, and that |>erhaps was the reason why the enemy was insufficiently on guard. Two formations took part One was equipped ’ with fish torpedoes and the other with • bombs. It was the first time the Japanese used aerial torpedoes. < Recd 8.30 pm * Rugby. Dei 13. A Washington war communique states: “In the I’h.lq , nes Japanese air activity continued throughout yeswith raids on the Man a area and Davao. Attempted Japanese landings on Luzon were repulsed south of Vigan. north of San Fernando and at Lingayen. 'Operations of enrmy parachutists are reported at Tuguvgaro and Hagan, in the extreme north and north-west of Luzon. Some enemy ( troops landed in the \..n.ty of Ligaspi. at the extreme south of Luzon. ••previous repoiU uf enemy naval concentration west of the Amirerlvs province on the west coast of Luzon are confirmed.” The officer commanding the United States forces in the Philippines. MajorGeneral D. Macarthur. according to an American broadcast stated that j mopping up operations ,n the Lingayen area of Luzon ha. e l»een completrt "Th* Japanese have made no new (

gams on the landing bridgeheads they have rstaolished. and no new landings hase been carried out 8.0.W. RI <.BY. Dec. 13. It is authoraa!:vel? in London that some wilhdiawal of British forces in .Malaya has taken place in Kedah, ami there were further aii raids on Penang yesterday. In north-* ast Malaya then has been very little change, and ther is no confirmation nf further Jananc landings on the east coast. 8.0.W.