NOBLE SACRIFICE

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 86, Issue 65, 18 March 1942, Page 5

NOBLE SACRIFICE

ALLIED NAVAL LOSSES 1 JAVA SEA BAI TLE Rugby, March 16. The Allied naval losses in the Java Sea battle are felt generally to be a heavy blow to the already strained resources in material and personnel of the United Nations. The Daily Telegraph says that whatever the exact balance may be, the long fight was a grievous defeat. "From the day we heard of the ' sinking of the Prince of Wales anti the Repulse and the damaging attack on the United States Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbour, the position of the American and Dutch squadrons in the| , Netherlands East Indies has been pre-| , carious says the newspaper. "The, ; Queen of the Netherlands, in her J broadcast to Dutch seamen, has shown j us the spirit in which these losses must be taken and made good by the! reconstruction of Allied naval power in the Pacific.” The Times says that each of the . United Nations has the loss of good ( ships and brave men to mourn. In , this country the loss of the Exeter, ‘ with her great record in the River : , Plate Battle, will be especially felt. Memory will recall the great recep- ■ tion which the people of London were ; able to give her company two years ago on their return to a home port, : wounded but in good heart. "But the Exeter’s men and their comrades have not died in vain. They were not able to prevent the overrunning of the fair land of Java, but the toll they have taken of Japanese ' ships will count in the reckoning one day. They have given the enemy and the world exemplary proof of the devotion and skill of the Allied navies, and they leave with their own peoplesthe inspiration of their fighting spirit and of the sacrifice it so freely accepted."—B.O.W. EMPIRE WAR LOSSES FIFTEEN CRUISERS London, March IS. , The naval correspondent of the Daily Express says that with the , Java losses, the Royal Navies, includ- [ ing the Australian and Canadian forces, have now lost 15 cruisers and 67 destroyers, which is three destroyers more than were lost in the whole of the last war. The Allies combined still have a far greater number of warships of all classes. The Joint Naval Command’s problem is to dispose of them for world-wide duties without being caught at a severe local disadvantage as off Java. The Japanese cruisers, although they have achieved spectacular successes in the Pacific war. are believed to have paid heavily for them with ! eight or nine sunk and perhaps j. damaged. DUTCH IN JAVA HIDING IN MOUNTAINS New York, March 16. Tokio radio, quoting a dispatch from Bandoeng, said: "H's understood that a large number of soldiers belonging to Netherlands East Indies forces are hiding in the mountains of Java." General Chang Ching-hui, head of the .'daiichukuo Go\ en. merit, has ar- , rived in f'okio for a week’s visit, dur- . ' ing which he will be received by Emperor Hirohito. The Dome! agency reports that war ■ debris has been cleared from the I streets of Singapore and that the railway to Bangkok has been restored. Theatres ana other places of amusement are reopening soon. • Domei also reported that Lieut.Colonel Ichiro Sakurai has been appointed to Vichy to assist the military attache, Lieut.-Colonel Naoki MatsuyI ama.