BAIROKO HARBOUR

Wairarapa Times-Age, 30 August 1943, Page 3

BAIROKO HARBOUR

OCCUPIED BY AMERICANS LAST JAPANESE STRONGHOLD IN NEW GEORGIA. GARRISON ESCAPES BY NIGHT. (Special Australian Correspondent.) SYDNEY, August 29. American forces have occupied Bairoko Harbour, the last Japanese stronghold on New Georgia Island in the Central Solomons. The occupation was made last Thursday unopposed. The Japanese apparently had escaped by night in small craft, probably to Kolombangara Island, 15 miles to the north across the Mula Gulf.

General MacArthur’s communique says that all organized resistance on New Georgia has ceased. The campaign for New Georgia was thus completed in 59 days. An Australian war correspondent in the area suggests that its successful conclusion implies a satisfactory decision in the battle for the entire Solomons. Japan’s operational bases in the group are now restricted to the Bougainville area. The enemy garrison of possibly 8000 men on Kolombangara Island is closely blockaded and faces eventual starvation. Similar garrisons on Choiseul and Santa Ysabel Islands can be ignored. “Bougainville can be neutralised from the air, and though it is the final stepping stone in the Solomons chain, it may be unnecessary to occupy it before launching the all-out assault on the enemy’s key Southern Pacific base at Rabaul,” writes the war correspondent. The spokesman at Admiral Halsey’s headquarters says the Japanese over a period of time might be able to evacuate part of their beleaguered Kolombangara garrison by the use of small boats at night, but they would run the gauntlet of Allied naval craft, which had already intercepted and sunk many evacuation boats. He added that the plight of the Japanese on Kolombangara was worse than the Kiska (Aleutians) garrison, which had also been evacuated. Just as the American occupation of Attu cut the enemy’s supply line to Kiska, so the American occupation of Vella Lavella cuts his supply line to Kolombangara. The last Japanese leaving New Georgia abandoned a considerable quantity of equipment, including vehicles. They also left behind a plentiful supply of food.

The American forces occupying Bairoko advanced from Munda airfield (south), captured three weeks ago, and Engaoi Inlet (north). Strong defences had been prepared by the Japanese at Bairoko, probably as a prelude to a desperate last stand —but at the last ninute the defenders, stole away without firing a shot. The outposts had offered bitter resistance to the American drives. Baangai Island and eight smaller islands to the west have been occupied by the Allied forces. CLIMAX NEAR IN BATTLE FOR SALAMAUA. (Special Australian Correspondent.) SYDNEY, August 29. In New Guinea, the battle for the Japanese base of Salamaua is moving steadily toward a climax. The latest dispatch indicates that Australian forward units are infiltrating into the enemy’s defence positions from the west.

Japanese strongpoints are still established on Malolo ridge, dominating a razor back, about five miles from the Salamaua airstrip. Other Australian forces already hold strong positions commanding the airfield. SIR T. BLAMEY IN FIELD COMMANDING TROOPS IN NEW GUINEA. LONDON, August 29.

In the South-West Pacific, the Commander of the Allied land forces in New Guinea, General Sir Thomas Blarney, is now in the field for the final assault on the Japanese positions at Salamaua.