“MATTER OF HOURS”

Wairarapa Times-Age, 6 August 1943, Page 4

“MATTER OF HOURS”

TRAPPING OF JAPANESE AT MUNDA ACCORDING TO AMERICAN SPOKESMAN. STRONGHOLD CALLED VITAL BY TOKIO. (By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright) (Received This Day, 12.30 p.m.) SYDNEY, This Day. “Indications point to the final trapping of the Japanese defenders of the Munda airfield, in New Georgia, being a matter of hours,” declares a spokesman at Admiral Halsey’s Headquarters. The enemy garrison at Munda is estimated to number 5,000 men, but an extensive mepping-up operation will be necessary even after the strategic airfield is in American hands.

A second Japanese force on New Georgia is firmly entrenched at Bairoko Harbour, on Kula Gulf, about eight miles north of .Munda. The enemy garrison at Bairoko has also been isolated, but no recent gains have been reported by the Allied troops assailing this stronghold. The Tokio radio has described the battle for Munda as “vital,” declaring that its outcome would decide whether the Japanese would hold the Solomons for future attacks against Australia, or whether the Allies would’hold them as a springboard for assaults against other Japanese-occupied territories. The Munda aerodrome came into operation after the Americans in August last captured the Henderson airfield on Guadalcanal, 150 miles to the southeast. The field has been menaced since the American forces landed on Now Georgia on June 30. War correspondents in the Solomons say the airfield will be in a condition to fly aircraft soon after its complete capture, and will thus provide a valuable forward base for further Allied advances. The capture of Munda will squeeze the remnants of the enemy garrison into an area of less than a square mile. Allied naval craft control the only sea outlets, while the American force at Bairoko cuts off escape to the north. Further American action will result in the annihilation of a majority of the Japan- ; ese defenders, according to Admiral j Halsey's spokesman. The nature of Munda’s remaining defences makes possible only a frontal attack, forcing American reliance on weight of men and metal. A suicide stand by the garrison is generally anticipated and war correspondents suggest that the Japanese are preparing to fight in a similar fashion for Kolombangara and Bougainville, then retreating if necessary to Rabaul, which is regarded as the main strategic objective of the present Allied offensive in the South-West Pacific.