MORE AIRCRAFT

Wairarapa Times-Age, 19 March 1943, Page 3

MORE AIRCRAFT

FOR SOUTH-WEST PACIFIC GENERAL KENNY’S MISSION TO WASHINGTON. AUSTRALIAN ANTICIPATIONS. (Special Australian Correspondent.) SYDNEY, March 18. “In spite of urgent calls on American equipment by other theatres, it appears that Lieutenant-General Kenney, Allied Air Chief in the SouthWest Pacific, will not return Io Australia empty-handed from his visit to Washington and that the new allocations to be made to General MacArthur’s forces will be more than a mere token. “It is understood that General Kenney has been received cordially, and that there was a completely sympathetic approach to General MacArthur’s problems. The fact remains, of course, that from the viewpoint, of global strategy, the main concentration of American interest is still on the African front.” The “Sydney Morning Herald” writer makes this appreciation of the discussions now proceeding between General Kenney and Major-General Sutherland (Chief of Staff to General MacArthur) and Washington officials. The correspondent adds that the facts given by General Kenney are believed to indicate that General MacArthur’s air force is at present below the minimum safety level, attritional losses having brought it down considerably from its original strength.. Repairs and replacements are said to constitute an important problem. On the question of troop reinforcements, it is believed to have been pointed out in Washington that tropical diseases have made heavy inroads on Allied forces at South-West Pacific battle stations. Australia is awaiting with anticipatory interest the outcome of General Kenney’s visit to Washington, and at present, a year after the arrival here of General MacArthur and the first American forces, military writers are paying grateful tribute for the assistance already given in the southern Pacific by the United States. HEAVY RAID ON ENEMY AIRFIELD AT RABAUL. MANY JAPANESE PLANES DESTROYED SYDNEY, March 18. A heavy raid has been made by Allied bombers on the enemy base at Rabaul in New Britain. General MacArthur’s communique states: “Our heavy bombers attacked Rapopo aerodrome, Rabaul, after dusk, dropping 392 bombs on the runway and throughout the dispersal areas. Numerous explosions and fires indicated heavy destruction of enemy aircraft caught on the ground. Anti-aircraft fire and searchlights were encountered. We drove off two enemy night-fighters attempting interception. All our aircraft returned.” ELABORATE WORKS NEAR MOUTH OF MAMBARE RIVER. ABANDONED BY JAPANESE. (Special Australian Correspondent.) SYDNEY, March 18. Australian and American troops made the discovery of an elaborate Japanese defence system near the mouth of the Mambare River, in northern New Guinea, midway between Salamaua and Buna. Signs point to the enemy having evacuated the area within the past few days, making it clear that the purpose of the defences was to accommodate the 15,000 men killed when the Japanese convoy was annihilated in the Bismarck Sea The defences could have duplicated the Buna-Gona fortifications in the event of an Allied attempt at large-scale penetration along the northern New Guinea coastline. However, they are officially believed to have been constructed to serve as a beachhead for a fresh offensive by a substantial enemy force. The likely direction of such an offensive has not been indicated. Allied infantry patrols have been mopping up in this area for many weeks, a spokesman at General MacArthur’s headquarters said today. Japanese soldiers had been seen quite recently, but our troops took the prepared positions without firing a shot. When the Bismarck Sea convoy was sunk to the last ship and the enemy’s new plan evaporated, the Japanese at the Mambare defence works fled. These troops may have included remnants from the Japanese convoy which forced the costly landing in the area in mid-December. Our aircraft killed at least 600 enemy soldiers landing at the river-mouth from destroyers. It is officially estimated that about 400 escaped and joined up with scattered units fleeing from the Allies in the BunaGona sector. Continued attacks against Japanese shipping Reported in General MacArthur’s communique today indicate the relentless pressure being maintained by the Allies against any sign of enemy movement north of Australia. FIVE SURVIVORS FROM BISMARK SEA CONVOY. (British Official Wireless.) RUGBY, March 17. 1 Five Japanese soldiers were the sole survivors of the 15,000 on board the 22 ships recently destroyed in the Bismarck Sea, said Mr Elmer Davis, Director of War Information, in Washington today. WELL SUSTAINED AMERICAN AIR ONSLAUGHT ON KISKA. AND IN SOUTH PACIFIC. LONDON, March 18. A Washington communique states that United States bombers have continued their attacks on Japanese positions at Kiska, in the Aleutians. Lib-

erators and Mitchells, escorted by Lightning fighters made three attacks on the main camp area and the submarine base. Eight Lightnings engaged the same number of enemy aircraft and shot down two, with two more probables. In the South Pacific Liberators attacked the Japanese positions in the Central Solomons and in the Shortland Island area. NO POST=MORTEMS AUSTRALIAN DEF'ENUE PLANS. FEDERAL PREMIER REBUKES QUESTIONER. CANBERRA, March 18. “I do not propose to hold post-mor-tems as to what might or might not have happened in certain contingencies in the defence of Australia,” declared the Prime Minister, Mr Curtain, in the House of Representatives today. A Labour member had directed his attention to the reported interview with General MacArthur, in which it was stated that the defence plans before he took command in the South-West Pacific had provided for organised resistance on a line drawn west of Brisbane. Mr Curtain’s reply was tantamount to a rebuke to the member, who asked whether the persons responsible for this policy were still associated with the army administration.