HUNTED DOWN

Wairarapa Times-Age, 24 March 1943, Page 3

HUNTED DOWN

JAPANESE IN'MAMBARE AREA IN NORTHERN NEW GUINEA. ENEMY PLANS THAT FAILED (Special Australian Correspondent.) SYDNEY, March 23. During the past two months, , Allied troops havecarried out protracted but little publicised operations through steamy jungle swamps along the New ■ Guinea coast. News of these operations is given in today’s communique from General MacArthur’s headquarters, revealing that more than 700 Japanese have been killed and 100 captured in the coastal strip between Buna and Mambare. Our patrols also found the graves of large numbers of Japanese who had apparently died from starvation and disease. The whole northern New Guinea coast as far west as Mambare is now cleared of the enemy, and the Allied occupation of the area is a serious threat to the Japanese bases at Lae and Salamaua. Earlier this month it was reported that the Japanese, following upon the sinking of the Bismarck Sea convoy, had abandoned a fortress of defensive positions at the mouth of the Mambare River. This was the scene of the enemy landing last December, when about 400 troops came ashore from a badlybattered convoy. Many of these troops, together with others fleeing from Buna and Gona, perished in the swamps round Mambare. In their operations our ground patrols fought scattered actions against limited enemy opposition, and close air and ground co-operation enabled our gains to be made with a minimum of losses. Our aircraft did invaluable work in reconnoitring as well as softening the enemy positions. It is thought that small numbers of Japanese were moved down the coast to Mambare from Lae and Salamaua, and these troops were probably intended to secure the Mambare beach-head fortress while enemy convoys landed reinforcements. However, Allied bombers drove off all the ships. The annihilated Bismarck Sea convoy may have been intended to divide and land some of its 15,000 troops at Mambare while the remainder put ashore at Lae. VARIOUS ACTIVITIES MACARTHUR’S COMMUNIQUE USE OF 2,0001 b. BOMBS. SYDNEY, March 23. General MacArthur's communique is as follows: — “North-western sector: Reconnaissance activity only. “North-eastern sector, Admiralty Islands (Lorengau): One of our heavy units bombed an enemy schooner in the harbour. “New Britian (Gasmata): In a coordinated raid, our heavy bombers, accompanied by longrange. fighters, effectively attacked the aerodrome, scor-) ing direct hits with 20001 b. bombs on the runway and starting large fires I Our fighters heavily strafed the area from a low altitude, causing heavy damage to buildings and other installations. “Solomons Sea: Close reconnaissance of the sea lanes and waters off the south coast of New Britain failed to disclose any trace of the enemy destroyer heavily damaged on the previour night by our air attack. “New Guinea (Madang): One of our heavy units machine-gunned the town. . “Finschhafen: One of our heavy units bombed the runway. “Lae: One of our heavy units mach-ine-gunned the town. “Milne Bay: Three enemy bombers raided the area shortly after midnight at high altitude. There were two casualties, but no other damage, a night fighter intercepted and fired a burst into one of the raiders, which dived away in a damaged condition. The communique then goes on to re-, fer to the mopping operations in the Buna-Mambare area.