CITIES IN JAPAN

Auckland Star, Volume LXXVI, Issue 163, 12 July 1945, Page 5

CITIES IN JAPAN

THREE MORE BLASTED

Records Of Latest Super Fortress Raids

N.Z. Press Association—Copyright Rec. 11 a,m. NEW YORK, July 11. Twenty-first Bomber Command has reported the result of the Super Fortress raid on Saturday. Three more Japanese industrial cities were severely damaged. Reconnaissance photographs show that 64 per cent of Kofu was burned out, 50 per cent of the built-up area of Shimizu damaged and 43 per cent of the railway terminus of Chiba razed. The photographs also show heavy damage to the Chigusa factory in Nagoya, the Tachikawa Army arsenal and the Utsube River oil refinery.

Recent dispatches indicate that the latest assault on Japan by American aircraft continued for the second day. Tokyo radio said that Allied aircraft have been raking Honshu on all sides. The radio also said it Was presumed that the American fleet was still cruising off the Japanese coast, although the attacks had now ceased. New Jap Steps Against Invasion Tokyo radio has announced that the carrier task force, which attacked Tokyo, has withdrawn for fear of Japanese special attacks, but the radio warned it was still in the vicinity of the Japanese homeland. Another broadcast said that the raids on Tokyo airfields yesterday caused extremely small, damage. The Government has taken new steps to build up the nation's food supply and strengthen the railway systems preparatory to the expected invasion. Tokyo radio says that 150 Thunderbolts and Mustangs from Okinawa raided Kyushu airfields on the east coast, and the Osami and Matsuma Peninsulas to the south. The Japanese claim to have shot down 26 carrier planes on Jul -"O. Thv. capture and development of the Marianas, Iwo Jima and Okinawa have permitted the deployment of strong United States ' air forces within effective striking distance of Japan and • such air forces are being deployed as rapidly as possible. Incident to regrouping for greater operating efficiency, Army air forces in the Ryukyus have been passed to the operational control of the Commander-in-Chief of Army Forces in the Pacific, General Mac Arthur. Naval air forces, including marine forces, in the. Ryukyus and Iwb Jima, will continue to operate as units of the Pacific Fleet in connection with its tasks of tightening the naval blockade of Japan and destroying Japanese forces and shipping wherever they are to be found preparatory to further amphibious assaults.