AIR ATTACKS ON JAPANESE

Press, Volume LXXIX, Issue 23918, 9 April 1943, Page 5

AIR ATTACKS ON JAPANESE

RAIDS ON WEWAK AND FINSCHHAPEN BASES IN DUTCH NEW GUINEA BOMBED (N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) (Rec.‘ 10 p.m.) SYDNEY. April 8. To-day’s communique from General Mac Arthur’s headquarters is:— North-western Sector Dutch New Gninea. —At Babo our heavy units bombed the aerodrome and town, causing explosions and fires. At Fak Fak one of our units bombed the town. Tenimber Islands. —At Saumlakki one of our medium units bombed and strafed the town. Am Islands. —One of our medium units bombed the town of Dobo. North-eastern Sector New Ireland.— One of our reconnaissance units strafed a small coastal convoy, consisting of a destroyer and

two cargo vessels, north-west of Kawieng. An escortifig float-plane attempting interception was driven off and damaged. New Britain.— At Cape Gloucester one of our heavy units bombed and strafed enemy aeroplanes which were caught on the aerodrome. New Guinea. —At Wewak one of our heavy units at midday bombed the harbour. In the Saidor area our medium bombers executed an intensive sweep along the coast, bombing and strafing the villages of Mur, Savei, Fungair, Wilwilan, and Yamai. A succession of fires was started. At Finschhafen our heavy units bombed and strafed the town in two separate attacks. At Lae one of our heavy units bombed the aerodrome. Solomons Sea.—One of our medium units attacked an enemy destroyer oft the coast of Bougainville Island, scoring near misses.

DEVELOPMENT OF WEWAK

JAPANESE BUILD NEW AERODROME

(Special Australian Corresp., N.Z.P.A.) (Hec. 11 P.m.) SYDNEY. April 8. The Japanese have pushed ahead with the development of their base at Wewak until it is now one of the most important In the entire New Guinea zone. Attention has again been focused on this base on the far northern coast of the island, about 350 miles north-west of Salamaua, by the attack on Wewak harbour by Liberator bombers, reported in General MacArthur’s communique , to-day. Apart from its growing importance as an air base and as the eastern terminal for the new Japanese overland supply route to Lae and Salamaua, via Madang, Wewak is being developed to protect Japanese convoys moving into New Guinea waters from Rabaul and Kawieng. Our recent air reconnaissance reveals that the Japanese have constructed a large aerodrome with many dispersal bays and blast pens for the protection of. their grounded aircraft against Allied attacks. The indications are that Wewak is now capable of supporting considerable air strength. . One of the runways on the new aerodrome is reported to be a mile long. In conjunction with the aerodrome a large-scale programme of building is being carried out, and strong antiaircraft defences have been established. Japanese ground troops in the area are being steadily reinforced. Wewak is beyond the range of effective fighter escort for Allied bombers, and in consequence it has so far escaped the steady punishment meted out to Lae and Salamaua as our air blockade of these bases has increased. Wewak is further from the Allied bomber bases than Rabaul, and the intervening high mountains add to the difficulties of regular bombing attacks. The country round Wewak is reported to lend itself to rapid airfield construction. A number of pre-war emergency landing airfields were established on flat land in the area. Our air reconnaissance reports that considerable use is being made by the enemy of the new coastal road between Wewak and Madang. The latter base has also been steadily strengthened during the last three months.

CAREER OF GERMANBORN SOLDIER

DISTINGUISHED SERVICE IN U.S. FORCE SYDNEY, April 7. In 1931, Hermann Bottcher left Singleton, New South Wales, and went to America. He could speak only halting English. To-day, Captain Hermann Bottcher, D.S.C., Purple Heart, of the United States Army, is back in Singleton on convalercent leave. He is the first man in the American forces in the south-west Pacific area to be promoted from sergeant to captain on the field of battle.

Bottcher came to Australia from Germany in 1929, when he was 20 years old. In 1937 he sailed from America for Spain to fight in the International Brigade, winning the Cross of Valour at Barcelona. Back in America, he enlisted again the day after Pearl Harbour. The last days of 1942 found Sergeant Bottcher in the fighting round Buna. Throughout the campaign he performed prodigious feats of valour and he was mainly instrumental in dividing the Japanese forces by cutting a passage to the beach. For a whole week a small party under his command fought off vastly, superior numbers of the enemy, inflicting heavy casualties. He was promoted in the field and recommended for the decorations which he now holds. _ .. . Wounded in the fighting, Bottcher contracted malaria after he reached the Australian mainland. One of his outstanding impressions of the Buna fighting was the way the Australians shared their comforts parcels with the Americans. Bottcher’s father, fighting with the German forces, was killed in France by Australians In the last war.

PUPPET GOVERNMENT IN GREECE (Rec. 10 p.m.) LONDON, April 8. The Greek puppet Government, headed by Professor Logothetopoulos, has resigned, and a well-known Greek politician, M. Joannis Rhally, has formed ' a new Government m which he is Prime Minister and also Minister of National Defence and Supply, according to the Berlin radio, _