NEW GUINEA BATTLE

Press, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23802, 23 November 1942, Page 5

NEW GUINEA BATTLE

Heavy Fighting Continues ENEMY STAND AT BUNA (N.Z. Press Association— Copyright.) (Rec. 11 p.m.) LONDON. Nov. 22. In New Guinea an Allied force has broken up Japanese resistance at Soputa and .is now pushing on to the coast eight miles away to join in the stubborn fighting in the Buna and Gona areas. At Gona an Australian force is attacking, and heavy Japanese losses are reported. Buna is being tackled mainly by United States troops, who are converging on the airfield. The special correspondent of the New Zealand Press Association in a dispatch from Sydney says that the heaviest fighting of the New Guinea

campaign continues as the Japanese with their backs to the sea make a desperate last stand in the Buna, Gona, and Soputa area. Casualties are expected to be heavy. . Japanese' naval forces, reported to comprise four destroyers, are manoeuvring between New Britain and New Guinea. It is evident that the enemy lias not yet abandoned hope of relieving Lieutenant-General Horii’s besieged troops. Poor visibility has made it difficult to keep a close watch on the enemy warships. The Japanese have also thrown their air forces into the battle. On Friday when bad weather made it impossible for the Allied aircraft to operate from southern aerodromes Japanese Zero fighters harassed our attacking troops. But on Saturday the weather began to clear and Allied aircraft were again operating in close support of our land forces. They have given the Japanese no rest and throughout the day inflicted heavy damage and casualties. Two enemy fighters attempting interception were shot down. We lost no aeroplanes. Japanese air activity on Saturday was on a diminishing scale. With the enemy troops becoming increasingly concentrated and consequently offering better targets for our strafing aircraft the factor of air su-. periority must be of vital importance during these final stages of the battle for Papua. Our aircraft have made night raids on enemy aerodromes at Kavieng, in New Ireland, and installations at Rabaul, in New Britain, evidently to neutralise Japanese efforts to provide air and naval assistance for LieutenantGeneral Horii’s' force. Meanwhile Australian and American troops are relentlessly pressing the Japanese into a shrinking triangle (from Gona to Buna is about 12 miles, while Soputa is six miles inland from Buna on the Giriwu river). At Soputa the combined Allied forces are making their strongest attacks, and war correspondents say the enemy resistance here begins to show signs of crumbling. The Japanese, however, are in wellprepared positions, including light artillery emplacements. The Allied troops are using mortars and machineguns as their heaviest weapons. No details of the land battle have yet been received, but it is clear that Allied strategy is to keep driving against the Japanese, giving them no opportunity for rest and reorganisation. To dislodge a determined enemy from foxholes, gunpits,' and trenches may be costly—but, if improving 1 weather permits full exploitation of our air superiority, the Papuan phase of our New Guinea campaign should be pressed to a swift conclusion.