RISING IN FURY

Wairarapa Times-Age, 23 December 1943, Page 3

RISING IN FURY

AIR WAR OVER MARSHALLS. JAPANESE ANTI-INVASION EFFORTS. WASHINGTON, December 22. The rising fury of the air war over the Marshall Islands is emphasised by an announcement that three Liberators were lost in a single raid on Taroa, says the Associated Press of America correspondent at Pearl Harbour. As a result of the recent series of attacks, it has been learnt first, that considerable shipping has been sighted by the attackers, indicating that the Japanese are making strenuous efforts to fortify the islands against the threat of invasion; and secondly, the number of intercepting Zeros is increasing, indi-, eating that the Japanese have been receiving reinforcements to replace the heavy losses inflicted on December 4 by the American carrier-based planes. The latest attack on Taroa was made by army Liberators on Monday, when 25 tons of bombs were dropped, causing fires and explosings in hangar and storage areas. The Liberators were attacked by 30 Zeros, of which four were shot down and five probably destroyed. Three of the Liberators were lost and others were slightly damaged by anti-aircraft fire and by the intercepting fighters.

AT SURPRISING SPEED AUSTRALIAN ADVANCE . IN NEW GUINEA. SYDNEY, December 22. Advancing with surprising speed, the Australian troops on the Huon Peninsula in New Guinea, have seized Fortification Hill, about 14 air miles north of Finschhafen, and two miles from the mouth of the Masawang River. The hill fell on Monday, but its capture was no easy task. Supported by tanks, the Australian infantry had to overcome stubborn Japanese resistance from well-prepared positions. The Australians in the Ramu Valley Have occupied more enemy positions near Kesawai, about 20 miles southwest of Bogadj im, the important Japanese coastal supply base south of Madang. In the Arawe area in New Britain the American invasion troops are continuing to extend their beachhead. To the north-east they are advancing toward the Sipul River. Allied fighter patrols are supporting the ground operation.

It is reported from Poland that simultaneously with the influx of large numbers of Germans from bombed German towns, the German authorities in Poland are trying to mobilise the largest possible number of Poles for labour in Germany and they are sent to towns most endangered by Allied bombing. The Directorate of Underground Fighting has appealed to the Polish people to resist new deportations of Poles by all possible means and appeals to Poles working in Germany to take advantage of the panic and disorder in bombed towns to make mass escapes out' of Germany.