HEAVY RAIDS IN NEW GUINEA

Press, Volume LXXIX, Issue 23998, 13 July 1943, Page 5

HEAVY RAIDS IN NEW GUINEA

ENEMY POSITIONS IN SALAMAUA AREA AERODROME BOMBED At RABAUL (Sec. 9.30 p.m.) SYDNEY, ‘ July ; 11. Japanese positions in the SalartiauaMubo sector are targets lor thejieav* iest air attacks of the New Guinea iv&r. : For the fourth successive day. Allied bombers on Sunday were out in strength, dropping nearly -50 toft# of bombs on objectives which bad earlier taken a terhiflc pounding Mitchell medium bombers were pro* minent. in these raids, concentrating particularly on the. Bobdubi area, south of Salamaua. Zeros made three attempts at interception and it u> reported that five enemy fighters were shot down for certain, as weU as two others probably destroyed. Two of our escorting Lockheed Lightnings are missing. t The, Japanese also lost four zeros over Babo, In Butch New Guinea, oil Saturday, when 10 etteaiy, figment intercepted Liberators raiding the aerodrome. Ohe Liberator was lost id combat. Three Japanese float-planes and one flying-boat were hit when Our«aeroplanes attacked the enemy seaplane base at Taberfane, in the Aru islands. Japan’s key Southern Pacific base of Rabaul, from which aircraft - could go to the assistance of the Japanese forces in the central‘Solomons, was heavily attacked before dawn ,otx Sunday. Liberators ■ and Fortresses unloaded 35 tons of .bombs ofl the runway and dispersal area at Vuhekaneu aerodrome. As the last Of our bombers left the target area a big explosion occurred. Several ,large fires wet* observed. General Mac Arthur's communique to-day reports the sinking by Allied surface units on Saturday of four loaded enemy supply barges in the Huon Gulf, in the Salamaua area; This is the first time the use of Allied surface craft along this section of the north New Guinea coast has been reported. It has not been revealed what type of naval craft was engaged, but it is known that speedy patrol tor-pedo-boats .were used in the recent American landings in Nassau Bay. Some commentators Suggest that craft of this type were probably responsible for the sinking of the enemy barges. .j 1 - “Qualified observers in Washington are supremely confident that the Alliel will attain their immediate objectives in the Pacific offensive," says the Washington correspondent of the “New York Times.” “But the bigger question remains unanswered. That question Is: are General MacArthur’s forces sufficiently powerful to continue fighting after the fall of the present objectives, until the more important bases to the north and north-west are taken? If General MacArthur’s forces are not strong enough to continue their victorious push Without pausing for recovery, reinforcement, and consolidation of newly-won positions, a delay similar to that following, the fall of Guadalcanar may follow. ' “American strategists envisage the following schedule for ah' Allied advance: Munda, Bougainville, Buka, Rabaul. with the clean-up of New Guinea possibly accompanying the last phase, Then comes the big strategic problem —whether we strike boldly northward towards the main Japanese fiavai base of Truk, courting a naval erfgagemeiit with the Japanese, Fleet, and thence to Tokyo, or whether we pause to reclaim the Philippines and the East Indies.” . The Washington correspondent of the “Wall Street Journal” says that General Mac Arthur commands the respect of the White House as a strategist The new Pacific drive, says the correspondent, is a test of the “island by island” campaign. If New Guinea and Rabaul topple within four to, six months the theory will have been proved. Otherwise Allied strategy, Will be limited to direct punchesjagalnst Japan from China. Tliis would mean retaking Burma first