NEW GUINEA CAMPAIGN

Press, Volume LXXIX, Issue 24093, 1 November 1943, Page 5

NEW GUINEA CAMPAIGN

FINSCHHAPEN FRONT STABILISED

REST FOR TIRED TROOPS (Special Australian Corresp., N.Z.PA,) (Rec. 8.30 p.m.) SYDNEY, Oct 31. Australian troops in the Fmscmia-fen-Satelberg area of northern New Guinea are having a much-needed rest. Many of them have been fighting them way northward through the jungle and up precipitous slopes for more than five weeks. , . „ This front, which has seen much bitter fighting, has been temporarily stabilised. The Japanese still hold tenaciously to the 3200 ft peak which is the hub of their Satelberg defences. The radiating spurs make ideal lines of approach to the Australian defences and deep valleys form a natural “moat” round the enemy defences on the heights. The savage nature of the campaign in this area is indicated by the Japanese casualties. To date nearly 1100 enemy dead have been counted, all of them killed in close fighting. Of these more than 200 were killed with the bayonet. These figures do not include Japanese bomb and shell casualties. It is a conservative estimate that the total of the enemy’s killed and wounded round Finschhafen and Satelberg is more than 4000. “This has been a tough show in every way from the beginning,” writes an Australian war correspondent in the area. “Throughout their landingbn September 22 and subsequent campaign our troops have been subjected to bombing. They have been fighting ever since they left the ramps of our invasion barges.” Supplies by Air

The Markham and Ramu valleys campaign in northern New Guinea is unique, in that for the first time a great Australian force has been entirely transported, serviced, and maintained by air. It is believed that this feat has not been paralleled by the Allies in any other theatre of war. In ordinary conditions a divisional force on the move requires at least 2000 vehicles of its own to supplement a great network of sea and rail communications. , This intricate supply system has been replaced in the Markham and Ramu valleys, by aeroplanes, and a ground organisation of jeeps and native carriers. The Douglas transport aeroplane, with a carrying capacity of a two and a half-ton truck, is the cornerstone of this organisation. Even jeeps make the first part of the journey to the battle front in a transport aeroplane. Hundreds of aeroplane loads were required to remove the entire Australian force. In the first 20 days after a strip was hacked out of the kuna grass at Nadzab (where Australia’s first air-borne troops landed), 2000 aeroplane loads were put down. For hours transports" landed at the rate of one a minute.

Nor does the lack of an airstrip prevent supply. At present the troops at three places in the Rama valley are being fed regularly by the “Kai Bomber.” Since their supplies cannot be landed within easy distance, the Douglas transport fleet selects an open area and drops them by parachute and the troops receive theif rations far ahead of normal schedule. ADVANCE ON KABAUL NAVAL ACTION EXPECTED (Rec. 7.30 p.m.) WASHINGTON. Oc.t. 31. Military observers in Washington be-" liev6 that the gradual Allied advance towards Rabaul may soon force the Japanese fleet to come down from Truk and fight. So far th 6 Japanese have depended on aeroplanes to stem the push, but the air force has been dealt a series of telling blows. The entire Japanese defence line irt the south-west Pacific hinges on Rabaul and the enemy is believed to be prepared to go to great lengths to defend it. .

It is pointed put that the Japanese position in the south-west Pacific Is analogous to the -Allied Situation /following the occupation of Guadalcanal Then air power ■ alone was unable to halt repeated Japanese attempts to reinforce and supply tljeir trdops on the island, for which reason the United States Fleet was called in.

PARACHUTE JUMP INTO JUNGLE

AMERICAN AIRMEN REACH SAFETY (Rec. 6.30 p.m.) . SYDNEY, Oct. r? 1 ' Six American airmen lost in the Owen Stanley jungle of New Guinea for seven days after bailing out of a Liberator have been rescued. Tmey were forced to parachute when their bomber ran out of fuel while returning from an operational mission. One of the crew landed in a 150 ft tree, and it took him three hours to reach the ground. , ~ The men’s food for the week was 11 small bars of chocolate, two packets of , powdered soup, a few oranges and coconuts, and some small fish caught in a mountain stream. They travelled almost 100 miles by raft, which they made of logs bound together with vines and parachute cords. Finally they met two American soldiers on a hunting trip.. The soldiers were well supplied with food and immediately cooked the airmen a meal.

Another American airman fighter pilot owes his life to the loyalty of the natives of the Huon peninsula, where he parachuted from his aeroplane. After five days he found i friendly village where an educated native wrote him a ‘‘safe conduct” note. A translation of the note reads: ‘‘Oh villagers of ——, listen to my message. An American is going to you. Look after him well and take him along the road to . He goes to find his fellow countrymen. The white men are fighting the Japanese. Take care he meets no Japanese. It is -forbidden. Guard him well until he reaches his own people. J)o not leave him but bring him safely to .” Natives then guided the airman from village to village until, 13 days after his parachute jump, he met an Australian patrol.

JAPANESE POLICY IN y EAST INDIES (Rec. 8.30 p.m.) NEW YORK, Oct. *l. The official Tokyo radio reports that the Japanese in the Netherlands East Indies are now concentrating first on urging Indonesians to join the Japan-ese-sponsored defence corps, thus relieving Japanese troops of police duties and making them ready for comont when the time comes; second, on largescale recruiting of native labour; and third a drive for economic self-suf-ficiency to eliminate the need for bringing supplies by ship. The Associated Press says shipping losses have apparently forced the Japanese to abandon the co-prosperity scheme in the East Indies in favour of self-sufficiency. Chinese Phppet Government.—The Tokyo official radio said the Japanese and Chinese National Governments had signed a new alliance pact demonstrating the deep friendship and cooperative spirit existin'* between Japan and the Nanking Government as well as meeting the new situation in the Greater East Asia war. —New York, October 30. Brazilians Sink U-Boat.—A Brazilian Air Force aeroplane sank a Gorman submarine near Rio de Janeiro. The submarine’s anti-aircraft fire slightly damaged the aeroplane and wounded one member of the crew.—Rio de Janeiro, October 30. Housewives’ Savings.—Women’s organisations are launching a national campaign for the amendment of the law. by which the money a wife saves from her housekeeping allowance belongs to her husband. Miss Junita Frances, chairwoman of the Married Women’s Association, said; ‘As the law stands the housewives’ position is little better than that of slaves."— London, October 30. j • .• _ A >