ROCKET GUNS IN PACIFIC

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 195, 16 May 1944, Page 5

ROCKET GUNS IN PACIFIC

Use By Allied Planes BARGES DESTROYED AT RABAUL (Bv Telegraph.—Press Assn. —Copyright.) (Special Australian Correspondent.) (Received May 15, 11.3(1 p.m.) SYDNEY, May 15. Rocket guns have been installed in Allied naval planes operating in the southern Pacific. The first intimation of this was given today by General MacArthur’s headquarters, when it was announced that Airacobras and Dauntless dive-bombers from the Solomons on Friday made a clean sweep of Japanese barges at Rabaul. The Airacobras sank 40 barges and the Dauntlesses claimed seven direct hits with their rocket guns. During the past week, General Mac Arthur’s bombers have pounded, the Wakde area of Dutch New Guinea J in • series of saturation raids. In• attacks they have dropped 780 tons Ot bombs. The third and heaviest stiike was made on Saturday. Smoke from huge tires rose 0000 feet. a . kd « f s * 0 "' 1 ’ 110 miles west of Hollandia, is the a est Japanese base to Allied-held territo J No Contact with Enemy. Australian troops driving up the New Guinea coast without opposition are now within 70 air miles of the Hansa BajWewak area, to which Japanese concentrations are believed to have fled. Though the Australians.have made no contact with the enemy, the Americans on the Hollandia-Aitape front, 2bo miles to the north-west, continue to meet ana wipe out Japanese pockets of resistance. Armed with automatic weapons some Japanese have resisted aesperately, but a high proportion of prisoners continues to be taken. Today’s communique reports that an additional 78 Japanese have been killed and 33 captured. Enemy troops in the Hollandia area are appearing in guerrilla parties of JU to 30 men. At Aitape, 130 miles down the coast from Hollandia, small parties of hungry enemy soldiers are roaming the country behind bur well-protected Tadji airstrips and in the Torricelli Mountains. They do not appear to have attempted to move south across the mountains or into the Sepik Rwer valley, where towering peaks alternate with muddy swamps and make escape for a weak fugitive utterly hopeless. Thus, the nature of the country and pur straddling of the coastal route seal tfie tate of the Japanese on the Jlansa BayWewak sector. Reconnaissance reports indicate that in spite of intensified Allied aerial blows, the Japanese continue to reinforce their bases in the far west of Dutch New Guinea.