Evening star., 1942-04-08


hitch-hike since my jeep Uas
shot up. Progress in the front
area is uerp sloW o,Uino to the
necessity to take frequent shelter
from bombing and strafn1.
Transmission also is difficult since
the bombing of Mandaidy"
BY w. S. MUNDY,
Foreisn CORRESPONDENT OF The Star and
North American Newspaper Alliance.
IN THE BURMA FRONT LINES.
April Toy Wireless-DelayedD. -
Weary. battlelstained men with
their guns and tanks and lorries are
streaming along road through the
paddy fields-the only road winding
north from Prone. 1t is a shining
road for the burning sun has melted
the surface so that it looks as if it
had been newly spread with tar and
japanese planes find 1t very easily.
! Jap planes are wheeling over it
now. But the crump of bombs and
the staccatO bursts of fighters dip
ping down to take their toll does not
hasten the pace Of the weary men.
Bombing and strafing has become
a part of their ery-day existence
and. besides, they are too tired to
care
For two sleepless days and nights
their hands have been clasped
around rife butts and tommy guns.
their eyes strained for the advanc-
| ing enemy. Every yard they went
backward was stained with the blood
of a comrade and strewn with enemy
dead Bombed and strafed almost
! continuously and under FIRE from
swarming Japs and Burmese traitors
who crawled around them like In
dians, they fought on until they were
swamped by sheer weight of num-
bers and in danger of being en-
circled Then they were ordered to
withdraw.
! Party after party fought TO the
, last man. Others we're decimated
/ hurting themselves against road
blocks and others struggled back in
ones and twos to join the exodus
to new positions where the British
: forces can turn and face the enemy
once again.
, Colonel In Front Ranks.
I saw the colonel of q Gloucester
regiment. big and redfaced, march
! ing at the head of the remnants of
his men who have been in the ad-
vance guard OF the British forces
since the withdrawal from Rangoon
Rifle in hand. bayonet flxed, he has
led them in every charge and stood
in the front line against every at
tack.
Nearby was q sergeant ma jor
bayoneted three times before he es
capped from the Japs. He was
crouched In lorry with 4 tommy
gun across his knees hoping that
the bombers would come close
enough to enable him TO have q
pot at them.
A gun crew OF Essex yeomanry
trundled along with a 25-pounder
which they hauled by hand into
erfemy-held Shwedaung to blow the
Japanese headquarters staff to
smithereens
There was no man who could not
tell a story of horror and Of in
credible deeds OF heroiSm.
was the onlv war correspondent
in the front lines when the Japs,
! reinforced by an army Of more than
/ 1000 Burmese mercenaries, began
/ the artillery barrage which was a
prelude to the fall OF Prone. For
48 hours Prone and the area around
il had been bombed and machine
gunned without cessation. At 8 pm.
their guns opened fire to tumble
what was left of this town-once the
home of 10000 people-intO dust
and rubble.
Battle RACES by Moonlight.
An hour later when the full moon
was bathing the country and the
white pagodas on the hills in light as
bright as day. the first Jap snipers
slipped into the outskirts Of the
town. They were followed by a
strong force of Japs who entered
from the west and by mixed force
of Japs and Burmese who attacked
along the river.
Until m. the battle ragged The
Japs had brought mortars with them
and their heavier guns continued to
shower heavy barrage on the Brit
ish and Indians who had stayed to
cover the withdrawal which was de-
cided on when it was apparent that
the inflltrating columns of Japs and
their allies would cut the road north
of Prone
A battle of hand to hand fighting
ragged to and fro in the streets and
around the town for five hours be-
fore-with the vital road threatened
the defenders began to retreat
across golf course where the bunk
ers became machine gun nests and
trenches from which British and In
dians, fighting side by side. sprang
time after time in bayonet charges
against the JapS.
At dawn the Japs held Prone and
now, as I write, they have pressed
on without pause along the main
road to Dayindabo, Is miles north
Vi FIOIllc, WIlcIc GflSll duNdIlCC
patrols are in contact with the Brit
ish. This is about Is miles south of
Allanmyo whoch obviously is the
Jsps' next objective. Another large
force of Japs at present is 10 miles
south of Kyaukpadaung which Is l3
miles west of Allanmyo and jap
anese-Burmese force advancing on
the west bank Of the Irrawaddy is
near Thayetmyo. almost opposite
Allanmyo. An hour ago a demoli-
ton party blew up the Allanmyo
cement works. the only one in
Burma
Troops Not Dispirited.
For men who must move back
there is no respite. but when their
story is told it will live in history.
Always, they have wanted to go for
ward; always they have had to go
back. Greatly outnumbered. con-
Stantlv harried by an enemy aided
by traitor Burmese and the nature
of the country. they had had to suf-
fer also unrestricted air attack from
ct;ac in u,hich M prifisb or Allied