Word: manila
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...China (see p. 27). But the Dutch were mobilized to the spit-&-polish point in Batavia; not only Singapore but all of the Straits Settlements were in a state of emergency; at Hong Kong every British soldier was at war post; U.S. Marines arrived at Olongapo near Manila; the British had heavily reinforced Rangoon with British and Indian troops of all arms and services. In Bangkok, capital of little Thailand, tension was drumhead-tight in the place that might be the Belgium of a Far East war. The British attitude, as broadcast by Aberdeen Economist Lindley Macnaghten Fraser this week...
...Manila the air force was standing by; naval leaves were canceled. Leaves were canceled at Corregidor, the strong rock fortress guarding Manila Bay. Permanent blackout was ordered at the naval base at Cavite, at Olongapo, where the Navy has been mysteriously building. All British and U.S. forces in the Far East were put on the alert. In Manila naval messages jammed the radio, forced civil officials to use commercial cables. It was Manila's biggest war scare, and as the week went on, it grew...
...real imminence of war with Japan last week struck Manuel Quezon. In his mind's eye he saw Japanese bombers over Manila and perhaps his own people pointing at him accusingly. In one tense, crisis-ridden night, he made an astonishing speech and tried to put the blame away from himself...
Haunting the President's restless mind was Manila's lack of air-raid shelters. U.S. authorities expect that if war begins Tokyo will be worse bombed than Manila, but talk about bombing the paper cities of Japan is no comfort to Quezon. In the old city of Manila, walled and narrow, there are no underground shelters, for the water table is only three feet underground. Underground shelters are not a necessity if Manila receives only sporadic bombings, but a greater danger than bombs is fire...
Such a war would center in the South China Sea, since it is through these waters that we get most of our rubber, tungsten, manila hemp, tin and other essential raw materials. Likewise a large part of Japan's necessities flow over this route...