Word: penang
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Mistakes. The British had not scorched the earth as they should have. At Penang, strategic island base on Malaya's east coast, they had destroyed military establishments in the withdrawal, but had left warehouses full of rubber, several months' supplies of rice, and-incredible blunder-all utilities working like a charm. At week's end the unscorched Penang radio repeatedly broadcast: "Hello, Singapore, how do you like our bombings...
Said the liberal, keen New-Statesman and Nation: "At this point we face something even more unpleasant than incompetence. No one will complain that Penang was deliberately evacuated while there was time to withdraw its white inhabitants. But reports insist that its docks and its electric power station were left intact for the enemy's use [see p. 21] and subsequent denials only cover half the charges...
...though all the Japanese elements of attack may have been, there could be no belittling the results. In 14 days the Japanese had driven more than 100 miles through jungles which the British had complacently considered impenetrable. The enemy had isolated and driven the British off the island of Penang-not only a secondary naval base, but also the key to the narrow Malacca Straits, most direct route for supplies and reinforcements for Singapore. The Japanese had also established themselves in a number of nearby air bases...
...Pacific U.S. ships form a long thin supply line stretching from Panama to the Straits of Malacca and the Java Sea; to the ports of the Dutch Indies, Singapore, Penang; to the Indian Ocean and along Africa's coast. Homeward bound most of these ships bring the U.S. vital Far Eastern cargoes. Outward bound many of them have been carrying supplies to China, Russia and the British in the Middle East...
...From Penang, Isthmian's Ensley City was headed for seething and steaming Dutch East Indies ports. The Puerto Rican, out of Balik Papan, was homeward bound, her crew hopeful of reaching Boston...