AMERICANS LAUNCH BIG AIR OFFENSIVE

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIII, Issue 254, 27 October 1942, Page 3

AMERICANS LAUNCH BIG AIR OFFENSIVE

HONGKONG BLASTED

Devastating Raids On Many

Targets In China

United Press Association—Copyright Rec. noon. LONDON, Oct. 26.

Twenty tons of bombs were landed in the target area when United States aircraft raided Hongkong, reports the Associated Press Chungking correspondent, in a New York cable dispatch. Ships, docks and warehouses were hit and many fires were started, both on Hongkong Island and at Kowloon.

Ten enemy fighters were shot down and five more probably destroyed. One American bomber failed to return and one fighter was forced down in Chinese territory.

These were the first Allied raids on Hongkong and Kowloon, and a communique from General Stilwell's headquarters in China states that large numbers of incendiary, as well as high explosive, bombs were dropped. American planes again raided Hongkong this morning and destroyed the power station and also attacked the aerodrome north-east of Canton, starting many fires, says a Chungking message. The Japanese unsuccessfully attempted to intercept the raiders. The Americans accomplished their mission without loss.

The Associated Press correspondent says Sunday's raid on Hongkong caught the Japanese napping. The last bomb racks were emptied before Japanese fighters challenged the bombers. There was a hot time for a few minutes when Zeros swarmed towards the bombers, but the American fighters soon scattered the enemy.

A destroyer in the harbour received a direct hit in to-day's raid and new fires were added to Sunday's devastating assault. The news of these blows has been greeted with great rejoicing in Chungking as indicating that a big American aerial offensive has begun. American heavy bombers seriously damaged Japanese operated coalmines in the vicinity of Linsi, in north-east China, on October 21, says the Associated Press correspondent at United States Army headquarters in China. In one of the longest raids of the war the bombers destroyed the power plant and decommissioned the Linsi mine and five others in the Kailan area, north-east of Tientsin, from which Japan draws large fuel supplies for her war industries. It is believed that the power house and other installations cannot be restored for many months.