FIERCE CLASHES

Wairarapa Times-Age, 25 September 1942, Page 3

FIERCE CLASHES

PATROLS IN OWEN STANLEY RANGE

AMERICAN DESTROYER LOST IN SOLOMONS.

BALANCE OF SEA LOSSES MUCH AGAINST ENEMY.

LONDON, September 24

Fierce patrol clashes have been going on in the past few days on the southern slopes of the Owen Stanley Range, in New Guinea. No mention of these clashes is made in General l\lacArt bur’s communique, which reports routine harassing of enemy supply lines and bases.

In the Solomons the United States Navy has lost the destroyer Jarvis and a small auxiliary transport. The destroyer was damaged by enemy air attack on Guadalcanal - some weeks ago and it is presumed she has been lost trying to get from Tulagi to a southern supply base. It is believed that aproximately 250 lives were lost in the sinking of the destroyer Jarvis and the auxiliary transport Little. This brings the total number of American ships lost or damaged since the attack on the Solomons to eight. Against this the Japanese have at least had 22 ships sunk or damaged.

FINE ACHIEVEMENT

ISOLATED AUSTRALIAN UNIT. RETURN THROUGH JUNGLE TO MAIN BODY. (Special Australian Correspondent.) SYDNEY, September 24. An, Australian unit, cut off by the Japanese three weeks ago in the Owen Stanley jungle fighting near Efogi, has returned to its own lines. Their achievement is described as “one of the finest stories of courage, endurance and comradeship to come out of New Guinea.”

They brought with them 11 stretcher casualties whom they refused to leave behind to become prisoners even when the odds seemed impossible. Paths had to be cut through undergrowth so thick that progress was often reduced to half a mile a day. In one week the party covered five miles. ’ The wounded had to be carried over mountains, down the sides of steep ravines and through jungle swamps. The average loss of weight was two stone. The men were haggard, but they had even shaved before returning to the front lines and their spirits were high. Frequently the party narrowly avoided clashes with superior Japanese forces when they moved close to native villages hoping to find food. For manydays their sole food was yams. One of the heroes of the escape was a sergeant, who carried a wounded comrade on his back up a precipitous cliff face when ascent by a stretcher party proved impossible. Witnesses of the incident said that several men were required to haul an empty stretcher up the cliff. The sergeant showed superhuman strength in carrying the helpless man up alone.

ENORMOUS DAMAGE

DONE BY ALLIED AIRCRAFT IN NEW GUINEA.

ATTACKS ON ENEMY SUPPLY ' LINES.

(Soecial Australian Correspondent.) SYDNEY, September 24. In 16 days’ raiding, Allied planes have caused enormous damage to the Japanese supply lines in New Guinea. Wednesday’s attacks on Buna and the enemy line of communications to Kokoda surpassed even Tuesday’s heavy raids in concentrated intensity. *

Demolition bombs, each weighing nearly' a ton, were dropped on Buna airfield, which was attacked five times in day and night raids by a strong force of Flying Fortresses and fighters. For three hours during the morning, the attacks were almost without cessation. Invasion barges, store dumps, enemy' living quarters, and anti-air-craft emplacements were destroyed. Along the Kokoda trail, our fighters strafed a Japanese pack-train. Another target was the bridge over the swiftflowing Kumusi River, which was twice previously smashed, but was replaced by the enemy with a span of a new type. Thq work has been done at amazing speed. This ceaseless pounding of the back areas and the trail along which Japanese supplies must move, has apparently had a mounting effect,on the enemy. The Japanese fighting'on the Owen Stanley front seem temporarily to have over-run their strength. They are reported to be digging in near the village .of Icribaiwa, evidently to secure protection to build up their supply dumps. This suggests that the present pause in their forward drive may be continued, at least for a further short period. The enemy is also reported to be stripping native gardens, which is accepted by some as evidence that he is short of food. However, “living ofl the land” is the normal practice 01 Japanese troops, and it is probable that they are merely following routine policy. ~ _ , For the first time since action flared up in this front, the Japanese on Wednesday attempted air interception, sending up six Zeros in efforts to smash our raiding formations. They were not successful, and we lost only one plane in the day’s sweeps. . ' The sole Japanese offensive air activity on Wednesday was a raid on Port Moresby by a single plane. A few bombs fell harmlessly in scrub.

The ’’New York Times” war correspondent in the New Guinea theatre quotes an American Air Corps officer as saying “We are now cooking with gas.” He explains that in the Air Corps vernacular this means "We are getting somewhere now and arc doling the right things with the right equipment.” The writer suggests that Japanese fighters arc being mustered for a pending enemy offensive in the Solomons, necessitating diversion of aircraft which normally would bo used in New Guinea. This supports the theory that the enemy is not so well stocked with planes that he is able to overwhelm two fronts at once. Air power, says the correspondent, will determine whether the Allies will be able to hold the indispensable Port Moresby base.