SPIRITED REPLY

Wairarapa Times-Age, 26 February 1942, Page 3

SPIRITED REPLY

TO JAPANESE AIR RAIDS ACTIONS OVER JAVA AND OTHER ISLANDS. ENEMY LOSSES OF PLANES AND SHIPS. (British Official Wireless.) (Received This Day, 10.10 a.m.) RUGBY, February 25. Intense air activity and a spirited Allied reply are announced in a Batavia communique, which states: “The Japanese have continued to confine themselves to attacks on aerodromes on Java. Yesterday morning sixteen planes carried out a violent attack on the harbour of Tandjong Priok. Although the attack lasted for approximately an hour, the damage and losses were small. Nearly all the bombs dropped into the water. A third attack, carried out by a formation of 16 planes, was broken up by our anti-aircraft artillery. The planes then came back in small groups and carried out attacks individually. The same aircraft carried out an attack on an aerodrome near Batavia, and some drums of petrol stocked there were burnt out. Yesterday morning also an aerodrome near Bandong was raided, but only slight damage was done. “A bombing attack against naval objectives near Surabaya caused little damage. In the course of yesterday, various air actions over Java took place. One Japanese fighter was shot down for certain. Most probably, however, three Japanese fighters were shot down. One Japanese bomber was shot down for certain. Most probably, however, five enemy bombers were shot down. The peculiar character of the terrain in Java greatly hampers the tracing of destroyed enemy aircraft, “In the course of an action against a concentration of Japanese ships near Macassar, Allied aircraft sank two large transport ships. On the same morning another Allied plane had already sunk another large transport ship. “Allied aircraft attacked an aerodrome in ' the vciinity of Palembang, and bombed three enemy planes, which caught fire.”