NEW GUINEA FIGHTING

Press, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23748, 21 September 1942, Page 5

NEW GUINEA FIGHTING

Australians Hold Ground POSSIBLE NEW MOVES (Special CoAtespondent N.Z.P.A.) (Rec. 11 P.m.) LONDON. Sept. 20. The Australian troops defending the track to Port Moresby have kept their ground for three days. They are holding the loribaiwa ridge, a map distance of 24 miles from the end of the 32-mile all-weather road from Port Moresby into the foothills of the Owen Stanley ranges. Although recent reports speak Ot “only minor fighting,” it is felt that the patrol skirmishes may be a prelude to a major clash soon, as one side feels that it has the measure of the other. , , The Australians are believed to be defending a steep rise out of the valley between loribaiwa (pronounced “Yoonbywa”) and Naroo, a Japanese-occu-pied village four hours’ march to the north. Some observers feel that the slackening of the enemy pressure may be due to temporary supply difficulties, consequent on the pounding of their Buna base and lines of communication by

Allied aircraft, but in view of the fact that the Japanese have already overcome staggering supply difficulties to reach their present position, it is unwise to stress this aspect. It has been suggested alternatively that the Japanese may not wish to continue their drive for a time and that their present purpose is met by occupying the main strategic area of the ranges and making harassing attacks from the jungle. This engages a substantial number of Australian troops who might be needed to resist an offensive from another quarter. Thus it will be no criterion of success for the defenders merely to hold the Japanese in their present positions. An offensive to drive the enemy back over the mountains presents heartbreaking difficulties.. However, the Australian troops are said to be anxious to launch such an attack. The bitterness of the New Guinea land fighting is illustrated by the fact that neither on the Owen Stanley mountains nor at Milne Bay have any Japanese troops been taken prisoner. At Milne Bay scattered remnants of the enemy still fight until they are killed, refusing to surrender. These Japanese infiltration troops are “tadori,” a term meaning “pioneers who wriggle through the forest.’’ A military correspondent states that the troops comprise mostly peasant conscripts but they have had years of preparation and are “trained to endure, to travel fast and far, to move quietly, and to be experts in fieldcraft. They are stoics with a fanatical contempt for death.” That the Allied troops profited from recent lessons is indicated by their patrol success. On Wednesday 40 casualties were inflicted when a party of Japanese were ambushed by an Australian patrol. The Australian troops suffered no casualties. Allied Air Attacks

Although the land fighting has abated, there has been no slackening of the Allied air activity in the present fighting. Air attacks on the Japanese forward positions are impracticable since the enemy is seldom exposed in the thick jungle. The Allied tactics have been to bomb and strafe Buna and Kokoda, destroying Japanese supplies. Reconnaissance has revealed that 27 landing barges were destroyed in Thursday’s attack on Buna. Originally 15 were claimed.

Anotner Zero on Saturday brings the total of Japanese fighters destroyed at Buna to close on 50.

Buildings, stores, and dumps along the supply route were heavily attacked on Friday and Saturday. The Japanese in the north New Guinea bases of Lae and Salamaua have also, been heavily raided. On Saturday medium and attack bombers dropped eight tons of bombs on the Lae aerodrome. There was no' attempt at interception.

An enemy cargo vessel was bombed and set on fire in northern New Guinea waters.

The sole Japanese air offensive activity was on Saturday night, when a raid on Port Moresby by three bombers did no damage. The possibility that Japan may be saving her aeroplanes for “a big show” in New Guinea has been admitted to war correspondents by the new commander of the south-west Pacific Allied Air Forces (Major-General G. C. Kenney), but he pointed out that the enemy had suffered recently substantial losses and the stock of Japanese aeroplanes in the area could well be running low.