ALLIED GAINS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 3 September 1943, Page 4

ALLIED GAINS

IN SOLOMONS & NEW GUINEA DETERIORATION IN ENEMY POSITION. JAPANESE USING NEW TYPE OF FIGHTER. (By Telegraph—Press Association— Copyright) (Received This Day, 12.15 p.m.) SYDNEY, This Day. Heavy artillery in northern New Georgia has been used for the first time to “soften up’” the last important Central Solomons Japanese base at Vila, on Kolombangara Island. The shelling followed a raid on Vila Bay by Mitchell bombers. The position of the Japanese garrison was already perilous, from the supply point of view, before the American landing on Arundel Island. Allied naval and air attacks have made the sea so dangerous for Japanese shipping that the enemy is forced to rely mainly on barges to send his supplies south of Rabaul. While the blockade of the Solomons is not yet complete. the Allies are taking a heavy toll of enemy barge traffic. Warhawk fighters on Tuesday shot down five Japanese aircraft and probably destroyed two others, of a force of about 18 which was attacking Allied shipping near Vella Lavella. The Japanese are using a new fighter in the Solomons, known as Type 3, which is radically different from the flimsy, air-cooled radial-powered Zero. It has a liquid-cooled engine, giving greater power and speed, and is more heavily armed. Type 3 is the first Japanese plane with self-sealing fuel tanks. The workmanship is excellent, and there is no indication that the Japanese are short of special metals. It is the enemy’s first new fighter in three years. There has been only one modification of the Zero since it was first designed. The Japanese grip on Salamaua is rapidly deteriorating. The new positions won by the Americans, following on the virtual encirclement of the Japanese strongpoint on Scout Ridge, overlook the Salamaua airstrip and the enemy’s main real' defence positions. The end may not be far away.