AUSTRALIAN ARMY

Evening Post, Volume CXL, Issue 19, 23 July 1945, Page 5

AUSTRALIAN ARMY

SIX DIVISIONS FIGHTING

SYDNEY, July 22

Six Australian divisions are fighting on a 3000-mile arc from Bougainville to Borneo, it was revealed with the announcement that troops of the sth Division Have sealed oft" 40,000 Japanese on Gazelle Peninsula, New Britain. This is the first'time in this or any other war that Australia has had six divisions (a total strength of nearly 100,000 men) fighting at one thnc.

The sth Division landed on New Britain on November 4 last, but no earlier announcement could be made, says the Army Department, for security reasons. These considerations no longer exist.

The six divisions in the field are: The 3rd and 11th, in Bougainville; the sth, in New Britain; the 6th, at Wewak (New Guinea); the 7th, at Balik Papan; and the 9th, at Tarakan (Dutch Borneo), and in Brunei and Sarawak (British North-west Borneo).

The sth Division moved to New Britain from Aitape (New Guinea) when it was relieved by the 6th. Infantry of the 3rd Division, holding a firm front on the west bank of the raging Mivo River in south Bougainville, have been deluged with 15-inches of rain in three days, and all major operations have been halted. The Mivo River, the biggest in Bougainille, is roaring along at 14 knots.