Evening star., 1941-04-24
200 British Bombers
Poised 10 Defend
Indies From Attack
Colony Equipped to
Hold OFF Invaders
Till Help Comes
(Einhfb Of n Cprfes
Eighth OF a Sertes.)
BY A. T. STEELE.


The Dutch are not so sanguine
as to believe that alone and un-
aided they could defeat the jap
anese in a prolonged conflict. But
they are convinced that the British
in Port Darwin and Singapore
would quickly come to their as
sistance. They are less sure, but very
hopeful, that within a few months
after the start of such an invasion
| the United States Fleet would in
tervene-if its help were needed
The Indies cannot be blitzed like
Holland. Barriers Of distance and
of water stand in the way. Elab-
crate preparations have been taken
against surprise from the air or
from the sea. The Dutch would
fight all the way. Even without
help they could make an invasion
very costly and prolonged. They
are sure that unaided they could
stall off any serious thrust at their
main nd-Java-where most Of
the army is concentrated, for a
matter of weeks. BY that time a
formidable air armada could be as
Sempled with British cooperation.
Pin Hopes on Navy.
The Netherlands Indies are pin
ming their hopes on their navy, air
force and army-in just that order
of importance. The navy consists
of about cruisers, II destroyers,
18 submarines and horde of tor
pedo-carrying mosquito boats. num-
bering over So The air arms of
the army and navy could probably
muster 200 first-line bombers and
an equal number of uSable combat
planes. The army, at full strength,
would approach 100000. Its mech
anized equipment is inadequate, but
its small arms are good. The figures
given here may not be exact, but
they are surely very close to the
truth.
The varying proportions of Eu-
ropeanS to natives in the various
services is a fair gauge of their
dependability. In the air force al
most all the pilots and co-pilots
are Dutchmen Gncluding high
ratio of EuraSianS). The navy per-
Sonnel is about two-thirds Dutch
and one-third Indonesian. The
army contains about four natives
to each Dutchman. There is no
reason to doutb the dependability
and efficiency of the navy and air
force. However, the army, with its
high proportion of Malays, is still
an improved quality. The Dutch
expect much from these troops.
Neutral observers are not as conf
dent of the ability or the inclina-
ton of the Malays to stand up un-
der concentrated attack.
Geographical Setup Ideal.
The Dutch have based their
strategy of defense on guerrilla tac-
tics not alone on land but in the
air and on sea. The geographical
setup is almost ideal. Java, where
the main naval, military and ad-
ministrative bases are situated, is
screened against attack by hun
dreds of islands on the west, north
and east. The year Of preparation
since the fall of Holland has given
the Dutch time to establish numer-
our airports. submarine bases and
naval anchorages for hit-and-run
operations against a potential enc
my of superior strength. Emer-
gency landing fields dot the archi-
pelago and are being constantly
augmented. There are so points
where flying boats may be refueled
and Serviced.
Between Java and the Philip
pines lies the great land mass of
Borneo, site of the richest oil fields
in the islands. To attack these
fields the Japanese Navy would
have to pass through the Straits
OF Macassar, which is mined and
provides a good hunting ground for
submarines The Dutch are count
ing much on their aero-engined
torpedo boats, which they are turn
/ ing out in their own dockyards as
|
These au-steel craft are capable
of speeds up to 40 knots. 1t is ex-
pected that they will form useful
| auxiliary to the feet in case OF
close quarter action. The total
lack of battleships is serious
weakness.
Main Defense on Java.
The Dutch have neither the force
nor the equipment to prevent a
japanese landing in the wild outer
islands to the north. The best they
could do would be to fight a delay
ing action with airplanes, subma-
rines and mosquito boats. The
main defensive effort would be re-
served for this island of Java, heart
and soul of the Netherlands Indies
defensive system. Here most of the
army is concentrated. The God
sent interlude since the fall of Hol-
land has enabled the Dutch to
| strengthen their defenses at places
where surprise landings might be
attempted. The lesson of Hollands
experience is seen in the forest of
bamboo spikes surrounding airports
as a precaution against parachute
attacks.
Sumatra, to the west, is also an
immensely important island, but it
enjoys the advantage of being al
most in the shadow of Singapore S
guns. Borneo, New Guinea and the
Celebes, biggest of the other islands,
are badly exposed. However, their
population is small, and their
wealth-except for oil fields-is still
largely undeveloped.
| Copyright, 1941, by Chicago Daily Newso
Miss Jessie Guard