MONO LANDING

Wairarapa Times-Age, 30 October 1943, Page 3

MONO LANDING

THREAT TO BOUGAINVILLE WAY BEING OPENED TO RABAUL ATTACKS ON ENEMY SHIPS. DESTROYER SET ON FIRE. (Special Australian Correspondent.) SYDNEY, October 29. Few details of the landing of New Zealand and American troops on Mono Island have been announced, but it is stated officially that the minor opposition encountered included mortar and machine-gun fire. Mono, the largest of five islands comprising the Treasury group, is a blunt cone 1000 fet high and six miles in diameter. So far as is known it has no airfield, and up till now had never been regarded as strategically important. Little is known of ■ the anchorages which the island may afford. The occupation of Mono brings the Allies within 28 miles of the important Japanese bases in the Buin-Faisi area. The elimination of this enemy defensive zone would mean the virtual fall of Bougainville, and would open the road to Rabaul from the east. The strength of the Japanese force on Mono has not been officially indicated, but an Australian war correspondent in the Solomons says the garrison is believed not to be large. It is presumed that fighting on the island continues. In the New Britain area a Japanese destroyer was set on fire by a night bombing attack. A near miss was scored against a second destroyer in this locality, while near Kavieng, New Ireland, a third Japanese destroyer was also attacked by our aircraft. General MacArthur’s communique also reports the destruction of several small. Japanese coastal vessels in the northern Solomons-New Britain area.