IMPORTANT FIGHTING

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 77, 29 August 1942, Page 2

IMPORTANT FIGHTING

FIERCE AIR BATTLES SMASHING ALLIED VICTORIES (Rec. 10.5 a.m.) Sydney, This Day. Important fighting is developing in heavy jungle country around Milne Bay, 220 miles from Port Moresby, where Japanese forces landed on Wednesday morning. “Contact is being maintained and fighting is in progress,” the general headquarters spokesman told war correspondents. The Japanese attack is directed against Allied land installations. The spokesman added that while to-day’s communique from General MacArthur’s headquarters makes only brief reference to fighting between opposing land forces it tells an inspiring story of further smashing Allied victories in fierce air battles.

War correspondents say that the air above Milne Bay was thick with planes almost throughout Thursday. With dawn Allied fighters began machinegunning enemy barges and supply dumps ashore. In battles that developed in this sector and Buna twelve Japanese planes were shot down, including dive-bombers, and two more were probably destroyed and seven damaged.

The latest air victories brought the total of enemy planes destroyed in the New Guinea area since Monday to 35. with two probables and seven others either damager or destroyed. Despite the Japanese Zero fighters’ admitted superiority in some features. Allied fighter pilots appear to have perfected a technique offsetting these advantages.

The progressive total destruction at the new enemy airfield at Buna reached 23 on Thursday when our medium bombers with fighter escort again attasked the field. The Zeros endeavoured to fight off the attackers. Of these nine were either destroyed or

damaged, while our forces emerged unscathed. Allied losses in a week’s spectacular air fighting so far are only two planes. ENEMY MOWED DOWN War correspondents say Allied Kittyhawk fighters mowed down the Japanese as they waded ashore from barges. Milne Bay beach was strewn with invasion barges burned to a cinder and for hundreds of yards inland our fighters have blazed a strip of jungle destroying the enemy’s supply dumps. Although the enemy landing on Wednesday was made without air protection Japanese planes were in the air over Milne Bay on Thursday when six enemy fighters and two dive-bombers were shot down in this sector. This is the first mention of Japanese dive-bombers in New Guinea for some months. The immediate goal of the enemy appears to be the plantation country which could be converted into aerodromes for planes attacking Port Moresby and the mainland of Australia.

The present scene of land fighting is dense jungle traversed only by narrow tracks. Extremely bad weather during the past few days has turned these tracks into morasses. Mud in places is three feet deep. A communication from the fighting zone said it would be difficult and news therefore is restricted. Enemy planes made two raids on the Australian mainland on Thursday. In a night attack on Darwin two enemy bombers caused slight damage, while at Broome minor damage v as sustained in a night raid by two enemy seaplanes.— P.A. special Australian correspondent