Japanese Landing On New Guinea

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIII, Issue 57, 9 March 1942, Page 5

Japanese Landing On New Guinea

AT SALAMAUA

Enemy's Nearest Point To The Australian Mainland

(United Press Association.—Copyright.—Rec. 12.30 p.m.)

LONDON, March 8

J a P anese troo P9 have begun the invasion of New Guinea. At I a.m. yesterday they landed at Salamaua and occupied the town. Later bombers, assisted by warships, heavily attacked Lae.

Twelve heavy bombers made the attack on the capital, while warships bombarded it. Troops then made a landing from a transport.

Both Salamaua and Lae earlier held been evacuated by Australian forces after they had destroyed all installations.

J a P anese invasion forces are reported to have come from Rabaul, where concentrations of warships and transports had been observed by the R.A.A.F. in the last few days.

Enemy forces are now based 175 miles north of Port Moresby. It is considered there is no imminent possibility of a land attack against that port, but it is certain that Salamaua will be used as a Japanese base from which to bomb it.

The possession of Salamaua gives the Japanese control of the Markham Valley, which contains a number of aerodromes.

The Berlin radio quoted a Tokyo claim that the Japanese are mopping up Dutch Timor, have captured many prisoners and are now nearing the frontier of Portuguese Timor. Koepang, capital of Dutch Timor, is entirely in Japanese hands.

A dramatic farewell message from the telegraph officials of the Netherlands East Indies quoted by British official wireless says: "Now we have shut down. Long live our Queen. Good-bye until better times." Later news is given in a delayed message from Bandoeng, via New York, which quoted the Netherlands East Indies news agency. This stated that Japanese troops attacked Bandoeng and on Friday broke through the first line of defence on the north side of the volcano of Tangkuban Pragu, a beauty spot well known to tourists.

The Dutch had hoped to hold the Japanese in the mountainous country round Bandoeng, but newspapers in London regard the news of the break through as evidence that the position in western Java is now extremely critical.