AUSTRALIANS BOMB DILLI

Press, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23589, 17 March 1942, Page 5

AUSTRALIANS BOMB DILLI

u (Received March 16, 11 p,m.) (l*dtTv.) LONDON, March 1(5. There were no fatal casualties when eight Japanese bombers, escorted by nine fighters, raided Thursday Island, off the northern tip of Queensland, on Saturday. Allied aeroplanes shot down two of the enemy fighters and two bombers. One Allied fighter was lost. The Japanese used at least 30 aircraft in their widespread and largely ineffective raids on islands in this area. In addition to the enemy aeroplanes destroyed, several others were damaged. Allied fighters intercepted and broke up an enemy formation over Torres Strait, a heavy bomber being shot down in flames. In a series of dogfights over the strait, enemy machines were hit and damaged. One Allied pilot rammed an enemy fighter, stripping off one of its wings and causing it to crash. Though he had himself lost a portion of a wing, (he pilot succeeded in landing safely. Australian aircraft bombed an enemy-occupied aerodrome at Dilli, in Portuguese Timor. All the bombs fell in the target area, and the Australians suffered no losses. An agency report from Sydney says that guerrilla warfare is being waged by Australian troops in northeast New Guinea. The troops retire to the hills, from which they swoop down on the Japanese, who are keeping near to the coast.