Word: sumatra
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Singapore was the key. So long as Singapore had been in British hands, easy access to the Indian Ocean had been denied Japan. Now, with Singapore taken and Sumatra under fire, the Jap could, if he wished, send his Navy and his Army into the one great sector of the earth which had been exclusively and safely British...
Singapore's fall was a kick in the stomach to Burma. If the Jap can keep to his schedule, his next stops are Sumatra and Java, Rangoon and the Burma Road. Had Singapore's collapse been delayed for perhaps another fortnight, a warmer reception might have been prepared for the Japs in Rangoon...
...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...
...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...
...threat to Java became more acute as the Japanese, against stubborn resistance, poured more men and planes into southern Sumatra and crushed the last Dutch resistance at Macassar, on Colobes Island just northeast of Java. The Nipponese also resumed bombing assaults on Soerabaja, Allied naval base on Java, and on Bali and Timor, east of Java...