Evening star., 1941-12-28
British Place
Burma Defense
Under Wave||
Indian Commanders
Aide Is Named to
Dependency Post
BY the Associated Press

BY the associated Press
/ LONDON. Sunday, Dec. 28.-Lt
Gen. T. j. Hutton, chief of the gen.
eral staff in India. has been ap-
pointed officer commanding in
Burma in move placing RESPONSE
bllity for defense of that dependency
under Gen. Sir Archibald P Wavell,
commander in chief in India.
Gen. Hutton, 81, replaces 56-year-
old 1t. Gen. D. K. Mcleod, a cav
alryman who has been general Of
flcer commanding in Burma since
1898.
Far East Command Shake-up.
The official announcement of his
appointment followed by "a hours
another Far Eastern command
shake-up in which Gen. Sir Henry
Pownall, 53-year-old artillery spe-
cialist, assumed command of British
forces in the Far East, succeeding
Air Chief Marshal Sir Robert
Brooke -Popham.
Like Gen. Pownall, whose head
quarters are at Singapore, Gen.
Hutton is an artilleryman who rose
rapidly in the service since the
World War. He attained the rank of
major general at the age of 48.
Gen. Hutton's selection was re-
garded here as having the general
effect of unifying the India ard
Burma military. establishments un-
der Gen Wavell.
Can pnu-noll u,hn ic nna
of Britain's youngest generals, was
gazetted the acting rank of full gen.
eral from his previous rank of lieu
tenant general for the new assign
ment.
British Reinforcing Stand.
The appointments came at time
when the British were reinforcing
their stand north of vital Singapore.
Jungle-trained imperial troops and
mobile japanese forces moved to the
North Malaga front last night in
strong numbers as both sides REIN
forced their lines in fight swiftly
developing into a major test of
strength.
The initial japanese push was re-
ported stemmed at least temporarily
by stiffened British resistance across
the hilly jungles of Perak and
Trengganu Provinces barely 300
miles from Singapore. although iso-
lated japanese patrols were said to
be operating perhaps 100 miles
closer to the big British port.
singapore is working at high
speed to get its civil defenseS or
ganized in a thorough working
order" the British radio said yes
terday in broadcast. A Chinese
defense council has been formed
to organize the Chinese inhabi-
tants who form the greater part
of the population, the broadcast
continued.
(The Associated Press at pm,
E. S. T.. had been without COM
munication from Singapore for
18 hours. British news agencies
in London reported that they,
too, were without direct dis
patches from Singapore. There
was no indication in the broad
cast as to how the British radio
had received its reportD
Despite the strengthening of the
jungle line, many observers said
the British probably would be forced
to yield still further ground before
establishing stabilized line from
which to strike back.
Troops now on the firing line were
said to be exhausted from almost
three weeks of incessant battle
against japanese troops which came
into the fight in great force and
better equipped for jungle opera
tions.
The japanese were described as
operating by infiltration, avoiding
major engagements and taking a
page from the lessons they learned
in operations against Chinese guer-
rillas.
Tanks and heavy artillery have
taken a secondary role in the fight
because of the jungle conditions
the British said.
They declared, however, that rela-
lively heavy losses the British suf-
fered in meeting the first impact of
the Japanese drive across the border
from Thailand had been mitigated
by the return of considerable forces
originally cut of.
British Raid Thailand Bases.
CHUNGKING, Dec. q (P.-The
Chinese radio said British planes
today raided Singora and other
Japanese-held bases in Thai terri
tory north of the border with
Malaga.