HEAVIEST YET

Wairarapa Times-Age, 16 February 1943, Page 3

HEAVIEST YET

RAID BY BIG BOMBERS ON RABAUL FIRES AND DEVASTATION CAUSED. OTHER ENEMY BASES ATTACKED. (Special Australian Correspondent.) SYDNEY, February 15. Japan’s key South-west Pacific base of Rabaul lias been pounder! by General MacArthur's bombers in the heaviest raid that, has yet been made in this area of the. command. Great fires which were visible for more than. 100 miles were burning after more than 30 Flying Fortresses and Liberators attacked supply installations and some shipping early yesterday morning:

Over 50 tons of high explosives, including 10001 b. bombs and 3500 incendiaries, were rained on the town and waterfront. The raid lasted two hburs and a half.

Though the raid was concentrated cn shore installations rather than .Jhe shipping, two vessels in the harbour were hit. Smoke from the blazing dumps and buildings rose 7000 ft. into the air and obscured some of the targets.

The Japanese did not attempt nightfighter interception, and in spite of an intense anti-aircraft barrage all of our planes returned. The attacks were made by four waves of bombers and extended from Rataval, on Talili Bay, across the narrow Rabaul Isthmus down to Kopopo, on the southern side of the harbour.

The first wave started huge fires in the Rataval area, and the second wave concentrated on the town, causing more fires near Simpson’s Harbour. Next came Liberators which started fires oh two wharves at Simpson’s, one being a new construction. The final wave completed the widespread destruction by shattering the eastern end of the town. Searchlight emplacements round Lakunai aerodrome were destroyed. Observers with the final wave report, ed that sections of Rabaul were “infernos” and that thick smoke hung over the area. This indicated the probable destruction of fuel supplies and ammunition dumps. ; SOLOMONS & NEW GUINEA. Another important enemy base for operations in the South Pacific, Buin, cn Bougainville Island, in the northern Solomons, was also attacked by our bombers early yesterday morning. The raid was made by Catalina flyingboats. An American naval spokesman has announced in Washington that the Japanese have built new airfields at Buin and on nearby Shortland Island. The Übili area, in New Britain, was twice bombed by Liberators yesterday afternoon. In New Guinea, Madang airfield was also attacked by Liberators, while Mitchells escorted by Lightnings raided Lae, where two enemy planes were destroyed on the ground and buildings were demolished. The Japanese ground forces continue to withdraw from Wau toward Muoo, and there is still no indication of an organised stand. Australian patrols are mopping up enemy stragglers. AIR BATTLES IN SOUTH & NORTH PACIFIC. LONDON, February 15. A Washington communique states that 11 Japanese Zero planes were shot down in a big air battle over the Shortland Island area on Saturday. Eight United States aircraft were lost. Munda, the Japanese base on New Georgia Island, was bombed twice yesterday. In the Aleutians, near Alaska, American raiders attacked the Japanese base at Kiska. Three enemy fighters were shot down. COOLIE LABOURERS MOST BRUTALLY TREATED BY JAPANESE. SYDNEY, February 15. Brutal ill-treatment of their coolie labourers has been proved against the Japanese now retreating from Wau in the New Guinea goldfields area. There is also strong evidence that the Japanese shot some coolies. Many were left to starve. “Those who got safely to the Australian lines told a grim story of slave conditions under which they were driven over the mountain tracks of this wild country,” writes the “Sydney Morning Herald” correspondent. Their scarred hands, bleeding feet, bruised bodies, and ulcerated sores confirmed their stories of brutal flogging and lack of medical care. An Australian officer who saw numbers of these coolies brought in said: “Their stories matched too closely to leave any doubts as to their treatment.”