Sumatra, Too

The Japanese bomb burst on Sumatra this week. It dropped at the one point on the long, narrow island where, by winning fast, the Jap could: 1) seize a major source of Indies oil; 2) set himself for his final drive at Java.

This strategic city was Palembang, a miracle of industrial creation in the jungle, rich in refineries, stored oil and the Indies' only high-test aviation gasoline. Some $100,000,000 and years of labor had been poured into Palembang and its satellite oilfields and towns.

If the Japanese won Palembang, in effect they won all of Sumatra's varied mineral and agricultural wealth (see pp. 24 & 25). For Palembang lies near the center of southern Sumatra. Entrenched there, the Jap could drive on to the extreme southern tip, immobilizing the Dutch forces scattered through central and northern Sumatra. From the island's western coast he would have further command of the Indian Ocean and its vital routes (see p. 20). Only Sunda Strait would lie between the invader and Java.

First the Japanese sent paratroops. They hoped to seize Palembang's oil before Dutch demolitionists could lay everything waste, as they had at Tarakan and Balikpapan. The paratroops died by hundreds, failed in their mission. Seaborne invaders followed. They landed at the mouth of the Musi River, swarmed overland through swamps and marshes. Outnumbered, outgunned, Dutch and native defenders killed hundreds, but the thousands overwhelmed them.

The first British Hurricane fighters and Blenheim bombers reported over the Indies joined U.S. and Dutch Air Forces in attacks on Jap-laden barges, transports and warships. Bombs smashed two cruisers and five transports, spread death in the barges. Hurricane pilots, probably fresh from Singapore, made six flights in a day from Palembang's airdrome, retired to Java only when the airdrome was lost.

But the Jap won Palembang. True, it was a ruined Palembang, where he would have at least six months of restoration to do before he could get oil. But he was winning southern Sumatra. Very soon he would be at Java.

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