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Show i i i i i i i i i i i 'i i i i i i in FORWARD MARCH By H. S. Sims, Jr. ii ii i i i i ii i ii i ii i i i i i i i ii DUTCH EAST INDIES MUST BE DEFENDED TO BEAT JAPAN A successful defense of the Netherlands Ne-therlands East Indies is imperative impera-tive to the final defeat of Japan. These Dutch East Indies Islands hold the answer to Japan's raw material shortage. With the rubber and tin of these islands in Japanese Japan-ese hands, a British and American blockade would prove ineffective. The Japanese have a war reserve re-serve and probably will not need these materials for a year or two. However, if we expect to defeat Japan in the next five years, we must keep these valuable supplies out of her hands. Although the Japanese have not attacked the Netherlands East Indies In-dies directly, these Dutch people know that the safety of their islands is-lands is at stake in the present war. They have joined in wholehearted whole-hearted cooperation with the British Bri-tish in their defense of Singapore which is really the gateway into these Indies islands. Four countries are lined up in an effort to stop Japanese domination of the Far East. They are: the United States, Great Britain, China, and the Netherlands East Indies. The average person has a good idea of the approximate strength of Great Britain and the United States. The valiant struggle of the Chinese has also given the people of America an idea of the strength of their yellow allies. Very few people, however, how-ever, know just how strong the Dutch are. The Royal Netherlands East Indies In-dies air force is made up of between be-tween 500 and 1,000 planes, practically prac-tically all of which were manufactured manufac-tured in the United States. The Royal Air Force operates as a subdivision sub-division of both the army and the navy. This comparatively large air force has revolutionized the defense of the Netherlands East Indies. Former strategy was based on the assumption that only the larger islands could be defended and, there-- there-- fore, no attempt would be made to stop the enemy in the outer provinces. Now, the most important of these outer provinces have been made air bases from which offensive action ac-tion can be focused against an invader as the best means of defense. The commander-in-chief of the N. E. I. army air force is Major-General Major-General L. H. van Oyen. The major, ma-jor, who is now 52 years old, is a forceful leader and has a youthful appearance. He is also up on U. S. military tactics, inasmuch as he has recently studied American military maneuvers. The Dutch army numbers about 125,000, which is about the same size as General Mac-Arthur's Mac-Arthur's Philippine force. Progress Pro-gress in recent years has been made toward mechanizing N. E. I. armed forces; in fact, the army now has over 6,000 motor vehicles. A large part of the army's ammunition demands de-mands can be furnished from the recently industrialized Van Dung in Java. The commander-in-chief of the Royal Dutch army is Lieut.-Gen. Hein ter Poorkan, who is considered an expert on aviation and a top-notch top-notch artillery expert, particularly particu-larly in regard to tropical warfare. war-fare. The Dutch navy, which is now fighting in cooperation with British Bri-tish naval units in the defense of the Malay Peninsula, consists of five cruisers and eight destroyers. In addition, there are 22 Dutch submarines, sub-marines, 2 motor-torpedo boats, 2 gunboats, 5 mine-layers, 13 minesweepers, mine-sweepers, and about 40 auxiliary craft. The commender-in-chief of the Royal Netherlands East Indies In-dies navy since January, 1940, has been Vice-Admiral C. T. L. Hel-frich. Hel-frich. He has spent his entire life in the Dutch naval forces. Incidentally, all three of the Dutch East Indies fighing chiefs are in their early fifties. fif-ties. They are a young, energetic ener-getic trio, serving their nation well. Our Dutch allies are fighting valiantly. However, they need reserves. re-serves. We of America must send help to them; we do not want them annihilated. |