The Pittsburgh Press (December 15, 1941)
SINGAPORE AND HONG KONG MENACED
British admit Malay is cut in half by foe
Japs may hold airfield in Burma, endangering Singapore defense
London, Dec. 15 –
British official circles admitted today that the Japanese either had cut the Malay peninsula in half or were able to do so at any moment.
It was admitted that this affected communications between Singapore and Burma, which would have powerful Japanese land forces between them.
Informants said there had been heavy fighting in northwestern Malaya, with heavy casualties on both sides, and admitted that the British forces have withdrawn slightly.
Menace another airfield
Official circles also said that Japanese forces who landed on the east coast of Thailand had worked their way across the narrow Kra Isthmus to Victoria, at the southern tip of Burma, and it was uncertain at the moment whether Victoria Point and its airfield remained in British hands.
Withdrawal of British Empire troops from the Kowloon area of Hong Kong, on the Chinese mainland, to Hong Kong Island, was progressing according to plan.
Though admitting that the British were suffering reverses in the Far East, informants said the news from Russia and Libya continued to be exceedingly favorable.
Still gain in Libya
Indications here were that the Russian troops were progressing “very well,” it was said.
A British Indian formation advancing northwestward in Libya repulsed two counterattacks by about 40 Axis tanks Saturday and destroyed 16 tanks and captured 371 men, it was asserted.
On the inland Libyan front, British formations, continuing that pressure, took 25 field guns and 400 prisoners and seized a 70,000-gallon gasoline dump, informants added.
Reports here said that British strength in the air was increasing. Fighters were said to have warded off Japanese attempts to bomb Penang, the island base off the northwest coast, Sunday, and bombers attacked Japanese bases “far beyond the frontiers of Malaya.”
Singapore dispatches said the arrival of 600 evacuees from Penang, the island base off the northwest coast, emphasized the need for accommodations on Singapore Island, already swollen with an influx from the nearer coastal areas. Evacuation of Mersing, 80 miles north of Singapore, was a precautionary measure, although the possibility of an attack on the east coast port was not ruled out because of its strategic value as a communications center.