 The National Broadcasting Company and its affiliated stations present the Pacific story. In the mounting fury of world conflict, events in the Pacific are taking on ever greater importance. Here is the story of the Pacific and the millions of people who live around this greatest sea. The drama of the people's whose destiny is at stake in the Pacific war. Here, as another public service, is the tale of the war in the Pacific and its meaning to us and to the generations to come. Sumatra returned to the Indies. The homes are dropped only on important places. They are falling on the great island of Sumatra these days. That one fell on Sabang. That one fell on Padak. That one fell on Madan. And those fell on Palamban. All these are important places. They are the leading cities of Sumatra that make Sumatra important. And since a good many of the bombs falling on Sumatra are British, this Britisher here might be able to give us a hint of what's in the wind. Occupation of Sumatra would aid greatly in any attempt to secure Singapore. They've got their eyes on Singapore, just across the Straits of Malacca from Sumatra. Sumatra, as you know, forms the western shore of the Straits of Malacca. Yes. So, of course, the Straits of Malacca cannot be used until a good part of Sumatra is secured. The Straits of Malacca are between Singapore and Sumatra. And Sumatra would provide us excellent basis for attacks against the Japanese in Malaya and in Singapore. So, Singapore is the objective. For Singapore is not only strategic value, but all your prestige value. But Sumatra is the key to Singapore, and Sumatra is a formidable island. Not because of its military installations, but because of its character. Sumatra is almost exactly the size of your California. This is a Dutchman. It is more than 1,000 miles long and about 250 miles wide. That will give you some idea. A thousand miles long and some 250 miles wide. Sumatra is 13 times the size of the Netherlands. 13 times the size of the Netherlands. You realize that when you fly over. You see, there is a mountain range that runs from one end of Sumatra to the other. Yes, there's pretty high peaks down there. Some of them are more than 12,000 feet high. And still most of Sumatra is a steaming jungle. The equator cuts directly through the middle of it and notice the mountain range runs along the western coast and the terrain slopes down to the muddy flats of the eastern shore. That's interesting. Mountains along the western side and mud flats along the eastern side. You see, the rivers runs down from the mountains down through the muddy flats on the eastern side. Down to the sea. Yes. Because of the mud flats, all the principal cities on the eastern side are built some distance inland, usually on the rivers. Palambang, for example, is built 56 miles from the sea on the Massey River. Remember that city, Palambang. The rivers on the eastern side are navigable, but the harbors are not good. On the western side, it is just the opposite. The rivers are not navigable, but the harbors are good. Emma Harbor, for example, and Padang. Remember that city, Padang. On the eastern side is also Medan, the capital of Sumatra. Medan is like Palambang, some distance inland. Remember that city, Medan. And at the very northern tip of Sumatra, just off the coast, is a naval base at Sabang. Sabang command the northwestern approaches to the states of Malacca. Remember that city, Sabang. The bombs are falling on Sumatra these days. They are falling where men have struggled for hundreds of years. Today, the fighting is against the Japanese. In years past, it was against the British, the Dutch, the Portuguese. And for many years before that, people of many races came to Sumatra to fight for the treasures of the island. Today, the population of Sumatra is a mixture of many peoples and many bloods. I am one of the Menangkabus. We live in the central western part of Sumatra. There are two million of us. The Menangkabus live in the general vicinity of Padang on the western side. There are fairly cultured people. I am a Batak. We live to the northwest of the Menangkabus in the west of Sumatra. Most of the Bataks are pagans. Some are Christians. But Mohammedanism has never gained a foothold among the Bataks among many other peoples of Sumatra. I am a Palambangese. We live in the southeastern part of Sumatra. A good many of the Palambangese have Japanese blood. Most of them are Mohammedans. I am a Mele. We are the largest racial group of Sumatra. We are of the same people who live in Malaya. The Mele's are perhaps the most advanced people who live on Sumatra. Most of them are Mohammedans. I am an Achenese. We live in the northwestern part of Sumatra. We will never permit ourselves to be controlled by the Dutch or by any other people. The Achenese are devoutly Mohammedan. Besides all these, there are other peoples on Sumatra. Many Arabs and more than half a million Chinese. But the least tractable of all are the Achenese. They are fanatics. In the early 1800s, both the British and the Dutch were scrambling for power on Sumatra. The Achenese fought both of them or whoever tried to tamper with their independence. At last, the British adventurer, Raffles, concluded a treaty with the Achenese. In return for our protection of the rights of your country, you will grant the right to trade in your forts. The Achenese agreed. But meantime, the Netherlands and Britain had entered into a treaty. The British were to stay out of the islands and the Dutch were to stay off the mainland of Asia. Raffles' agreement with the Achenese is inconsistent with this treaty. You British have agreed to stay out of the islands. Therefore, you must stay out of the Achenese ports of Sumatra. The British pulled out in 1871, giving the Dutch the right to extend their control over the Achenese. We will never submit to the Dutch or to any other people. And the Achenese backed up their words with action. The Dutch set expedition after expedition against the Achenese. We will never submit, never. The fighting went on year after year. The Dutch had brought most of the rest of Sumatra under control, but not the country of the Achenese. We will never submit. We will call upon the great world powers to intervene on our behalf before we will give in to the Dutch. We will call on the United States, or France, or Russia. This possibility posed a grave problem for the British. The Achenese will welcome the intervention of any power that will help them against the Dutch. This means that the intervening power would establish a base in Acha, and this would constitute a threat to Singapore, and thus to Great Britain herself. The British therefore gave the Dutch a free hand in clearing up the Achenese situation. But the Achenese fought up. We will never submit, never. The fighting went on for 30 years. Not until 1901 did it come to a close. And though the Achenese stopped fighting, they still resisted the political control of the Dutch. Now we must bring the Achenese under the crown as a subject people. But it took eight years more before the Dutch administration was really consolidated in Sumatra. Now they faced the task not only of learning to live with the many peoples of Sumatra, but of keeping them from warring with each other. Most of the people of Sumatra are Mohammedan. This is an Arab. How long have you been in Sumatra? My people have been here for more centuries than I know. The Arabs came to trade, bringing their products and even their families in their small boats. The name Sumatra is derived from the Sanskrit word Samudra. Samudra means the sea. And so Sumatra means sea island. Many Arabs and Chinese fly the rivers in their river houses, which are really houses built on boats or ramps. We make our way up and down the river, trading wherever we go. And what do you sell? Everything. Mostly I sell this. What is that? It is cretec, a palm leaf that is used for cigarettes. The baka was raised in Sumatra too, isn't it? Yes, in the daily river country up near Medan. The river houses fly lazily up and down the rivers. They make their way up river between the mudflats overgrown with tropical plants, where it's impossible to tell where the land ends and the sea begins. They wander up the tributaries from village to village and are familiar with the sight of elephants, rhinos, apes, tigers, tapers, bears, flying foxes, and tropical birds, orioles, honeybirds, kites and falcons. Sumatra is hot and moist. The mansunes come and go. And life goes on. But there is another side of Sumatra. This is the most European city in all of Sumatra. This is Medan. Medan is a new city, only about 70 years old. You notice the architecture? Fine hotel, banks and modern shops line the streets. It is the ultra-modern architecture of the Netherlands. And notice how the streets are laid out with shady trees and all along them. Modern office buildings, a post office and a market. And that back there is the dome of the Great Mosque. And that is the minaret. And that is the Palace of the Sultan. A fusion of the Occidental and the Oriental against the tropical background. And that train carries tobacco to the Port of Balawan. Four-fifths of the United States' demand for fine wrapper-leaf tobacco comes from Sumatra. You see the Port of Balawan is just 16 miles away on the coast. From Medan also is shipped out great quantities of rubber and coffee and tea. And all this has made Medan in the space of a few years a city of more than 80,000, second only to Palambang in all of Sumatra. We have here in Medan the most strategic airport in all of North Sumatra. Where's that airliner bound for? That one that's bound for Batavia and Java. You see, this airport is on the Netherlands' roots between Europe and Java. Ah, there comes a passenger plane all the way from Holland. Yeah. Just how far are you here from Singapore? Singapore, all 400 miles. Airlines connect the big cities of Sumatra and link them with the outside world, with the great cities of Asia, with Australia, with many of the islands of the Pacific and with Europe. But with railroads, it's another story. There are three railroad systems in Sumatra, but none of them joins with the others. Which one is this? This is the West Coast Railroad. It runs inland from Padang here and from Emma Harbor, but it only serves this one locality of Sumatra. I see. Sumatra is 1,000 miles long and mostly covered with mountains and jungles. So the linking of the railroad systems would be a great task. Another railroad runs north and south from Medan. This is the Dele Railroad. It runs from here in Kota Raja, on the northern tip of Sumatra, down through Medan and 150 miles to the south. 150 miles of railroad on an island 1,000 miles long and 250 miles wide is not very adequate. The third railroad runs out of Palambang. This is the South Sumatra Railroad. It runs from here in Palambang, southward to Teluk Betung on the southern most tip of Sumatra. One short railroad in the north, one in the middle of the island and one in the south, and each separated from the other by hundreds of miles of equatorial jungle. Such are the difficulties that confront military operations in Sumatra, the key to Singapore. But the most important military objective of Sumatra is Palambang, a trade center in Port City on the Musli River near the southern end of the island. The first Japanese bound to fall on Sumatra fell on Palambang. The reason? Palambang is the oil center of Sumatra. More than 100 million dollars and years of labor had been put into the Palambang district. In the midst of the tangled tropical growth, 56 miles up the river from the coast, it is Sumatra's richest prize with oil refineries, stored oil, and high-test aviation gasoline. How great is the damage? They did not hit the oil fields. No refineries. What about reserves? They were not hit either. But they had our military installations hard. The rate was made in force. They must already be operating from the aerodromes of Singapore. They are. The Japanese plan is clear. They have not bombed our petroleum center, but they've tried to destroy our military installations. That means that they will try to take our oil intact. Yes. And if they land here and take Palambang, they'll be in a position for a drive on Java. We must seize as they do not land. Yes. And we must seize as oil fields have blown up, as we destroy the fields in Talcown and Balikpapang. You will take charge of the demolition. The crash of the Japanese bombs and military installations around Palambang was equaled by the explosions of the Dutch demolition squads in the oil field. The Dutch raced with time. While their troops deployed to meet the expected invasion of the Japanese, the city of Palambang made preparations for the siege. I must take my river house with all possible supplies up the river. The river houses of the Arab and Chinese merchants move slowly up the 1,000-foot-wide Moosey River. I will stay here in my house on its foes. The Lambangese, the Javanese, the Macassarese, who for so many years had made up the population of Palambang, made preparations to stay. They knew the swamp lands and the jungles, and the Europeans, who made up less than 2% of the population, took their places at the strategic points to await the enemy. How do you can squadron reporting, sir? We will have great need of you. How many of you squadron reached here? All but two, sir. Do you know what is ahead of us? Yes, sir. We went through it at Singapore. That's squadron reporting in, sir. How did you make it? How do you get to? We made it. All but five of us. What is the condition of your fighters? Fair considering. Our bombers are in better shape. Your crews? All right. The British and American planes were conditioned in all possible haste. The crews reorganized. The Dutch Air Force, which had almost been destroyed, fighting the unsurging Japanese, rallied for the fight that lay ahead. Japanese planes approaching. Japanese planes approaching. And your planes. All planes. Off the ground. Good hunting to you. Good hunting. Come on, you guys. Let's get these crates off the ground up an item. Let's go. The Japanese planes are on transport, as spotted by zero fighters. The Japanese planes are on transport, as spotted by zero fighters. You hear that, you fellows? Air transport, escorted by zeroes. That means Japanese paratroops. Let's go. Get that you guys. They're paratroops. Come on, let's get them. Look at the fight of escort. Our fighters are attacking them. That goes to one of them. They knocked down one of the Japanese planesports. It's falling. Check out the parachutes. They're jumping. Look at that. There must be a thousand of them coming down. A thousand. There are a thousand. The Japanese are killing them all before they can land. But look, here comes another wave of transport and another wave behind that. The Japanese parachutists sent to seize Palembang's oil before it could be destroyed, were shot out of the air or shot to death when they landed. Their mission failed. But the Allied Air Force suffered too. Suffered seriously. Many of the British and Dutch and American planes did not come back. And some that did were shattered. The Japanese will return. The work of demolition went ahead. They remember the millions of barrels of oil they got from the Netherlands Indies every year before the war. We must see that they do not get one drop of oil when they get here. And we must see that we make their attack expensive beyond anything they have dreamed. The troops carrying powerful cruisers and destroyers. From the airfields of Palembang, the shattered remnants of the Allied Air Forces in Sumatra rose to blast the invaders. There they are. That's our baby down there. That big cruiser. Let's go get it. Into the teeth of the wall of hot steel thrown up by the Japanese warships, the Allied flyers attacked. That transport there, the biggest one. That's our target. Here we go. Japanese fighter planes roared in to break up the Allied attack. The Dutch and British and Americans met them headlong, plastered their transports and warships with bombs, and splattered their invasion barges with strafing machine gun fire. Fury never before equal in the Pacific. The remnants of the Allied Air Forces on Sumatra have smashed two large cruisers and five transports of the Japanese invasion force at Palembang. With the great oil centers and flames behind them, the Allied airmen are shuffling between the airfields of Palembang and the invasion coast along the south mouth of the Muzi River, something less than 60 miles away. Some of the pilots have made as many as six flights today, going back for more gasoline and more ammunition as their supplies are exhausted. But the overwhelming power of the Japanese is beginning to tell. At nightfall, the Japanese were still landing in force and pressing inland through the swamps toward the blazing oil fields. That's the way Palembang fell and for Dang on the west coast and for Dan on the capital on the eastern side and for Bang off the northern tip. That's the way all Sumatra fell. But as the Archenes in the north had resisted the Dutch, they resisted the Japanese and so also did many of the other peoples. And meantime, the Japanese were working night and day to get Sumatra's resources back into production. All the damage to the oil wells has now been repaired. This was 1943. These wells are now producing far more than the 60 million barrels of oil each year which were pumped before the war. That's what the Japanese were saying two years ago and they probably were right. And instead of getting only 14 million barrels a year as we got before the war, they are now getting the entire output of the East India's wells. But on the charts of the Allied military men, the Japanese operated oil wells of Sumatra were marked for priority attention. But this was still to come. Meantime, the Japanese were also extracting other Sumatran resources. This is our coal mine. This mine is in the basin of the Abilin River, not far from the Lembang. And there are other coal mines in the basin of the Lamatang River in the same vicinity. We are now mining more than a million and a quarter tons of coal each year here in Sumatra. Coal like petroleum is power. We are also mining silver and sulfur and red. All important war items. And from Banker and Bellington, we are getting tin and peroxide for aluminum. Tin and aluminum, strategic metals for war. That ship is loading rice for Japan. This is 1944 at the Dang. And that ship is loading tea on the coffee and pepper. Food for the homeland, for the Japanese troops overseas. And that ship is loading robot. Sumatra, in early 1944, like the other islands of the Indies, was being systematically looted. But that situation has changed. Shipping between Japan and the Indies has been seriously crippled. The Japanese no longer have the ships to bring back the products of the South Seas. And more than that, virtually all Japanese sea communications to the Indies have been cut. And now it's the Allied forces that are coming and the Japanese who are besieged. I am happy to report that all three of the railroad of Sumatra are in good working condition. Very well. And the highways? The highways now connect all of the important cities and all are in proper condition for military operations. It is vital to the defense of Sumatra that our communications be kept open. Our strength will rise in our capacity to move quickly to whichever point is present. We are ready. The Japanese who well know the value of their prize got their first important taste of what lies ahead of them in Sumatra on July 24th, 1944. A powerful Allied Eastern fleet task force today bombarded Sabang, a small fortified island off the northwest tip of Sumatra. The Dutch naval base which was seized by the Japanese more than two years ago and which has been effectively used by the Japanese ever since was blown to bits in the shelling by the big guns of the task force. Meanwhile carrier planes blasted airfields and other military installations in the vicinity of Sabang. Remember Sabang? A month after the Sabang raid the Japanese got another taste The fleet task force today raided military and industrial installations near Padang. The most important city on the west coast of Sumatra. The biggest Japanese cement works outside of Japan was heavily hit and believed destroyed. Remember Padang? By American super forts. Targets for the B-29s with the Japanese stronghold of the island. Remember Madame? And where the Japanese in early 1942 with bare fiercest blow the heaviest allied blow fell early in 1945. We'll blow today at the oil center of Palembang in Sumatra. Oil refineries which were smashed in 1942 by the Dutch and then repaired and put back into operation by the Japanese were completely destroyed by the British carrier-borne planes. The raiders are estimated to have destroyed 75% of all the aviation gasoline sources of the Japanese armed forces. Remember Palembang? Palembang? In these mounting operations, observers saw special significance. To make this great raid on the oil center of Sumatra at Palembang it was necessary for the British naval force to enter waters which had not been entered for almost three years. This means that the Japanese control of the waters of Sumatra has been cracked if not broken. And with Singapore 25 miles across the straits of Malacca from Sumatra the day may be near for the opening phases of the battle for the reconquest of Singapore which may take place in Sumatra. You have been listening to the Pacific story presented by the national broadcasting company and its affiliated independent stations as a public service to clarify events in the Pacific and to make understandable the crosscurrents of life in the Pacific basin. For a reprint of this Pacific story program send ten cents in stamps or coin to University of California Press Berkeley, California. May I repeat? For a reprint of this Pacific story program send ten cents in stamps or coin to University of California Press Berkeley, California. The Pacific story is written and directed by Arnold Marquess. The original musical score was composed and conducted by Thomas Paluso. This is a new narrator, Gain Whitman. This program came to you from Hollywood. This is the national broadcasting company.