UNDER ATTACK

Wairarapa Times-Age, 24 February 1943, Page 3

UNDER ATTACK

JAPANESE PACIFIC BASES DEVASTATING SWEEPS. AIR OPERATIONS OVER WIDE AREA. (Special Australian Correspondent.) SYDNEY, February 23. Japan’s three main bases in the north-eastern sector of the South-West Pacific Command have again been under attack by General MacArthur’s bombers. For the fifth successive night Catalinas yesterday raided the Buin-Faisi area in the northern Solomons. Fortresses were over the enemy’s base at Rabaul, while 15 tons of bombs were dropped in a destructive combined raid on Lae. The attack in the northern Solomons was on a smaller scale than those preceding it. Fires which were visible for 40 miles were started in aircraft dispersal areas. An aerodrome and shore installations were attacked near Rabaul. In the Lae area Mitchells, Havocs and Beaufighters combined in a devastating sweep. A number of 10001 b. bombs were dropped on the Malahang aerodrome and the nearby enemy-oc-cupied villages of Wagan, Bitibum, Laba, Kalpa and Kobo. Great damage was done to the light constructions in these villages and many fires were started. Japanese fighters did not attempt interception. Allied airmen are making a “bomb alley,” of Komiatum trail, along which the Japanese are endeavouring to supply their forces retreating from Wau, which are now in the Mubo area. In constant low-level strafing attacks they skim the tree-tops seeking out enemy troops. Often the targets are hidden, and only later do reports disclose the extent of the damage. The disruption of the enemy supplies is now known to have resulted in many of the enemy soldiers in this area being starved to death. Heavy casualties have also been inflicted by aerial machine-gunning attacks. Japanese aerodromes at Lorengau (Admiralty Islands) and Gasmata have been attacked by Liberators. The only offensive activities by the Japanese were two small-scale night raids on the Port Moresby area, which caused no damage or casualties. FURTHER RAIDS ALEUTIANS & SOLOMONS. LONDON, February 23. United States heavy bombers, escorted by fighters, yesterday attacked the Japanese-held port of Kiska in the Aleutians. In the South-West Pacific more American bombers raided two Japanese bases in the Solomons, at Gila and Munda, All the aircraft got back.