MACARTHURS’ PLANES REACH OUT

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 165, 10 April 1944, Page 5

MACARTHURS’ PLANES REACH OUT

Raids In West New Guinea FURTHER NIGHT ATTACK ON TRUK ATOLL

(By Telegraph.—Press Assn.—Copyright.) (Received April 9, 7.35 p.m.)

SYDNEY, April 9.

Striking 110 miles beyond the battered Japanese air base at Hollandia, Allied bombers have attacked V. alike, in Dutch New Guinea. This is an important supply base on the Japanese air lines from Singapore and the Philippines, and the raid was the most westerly yet made by the Allied planes based in New Guinea. Liberators and Catalinas were otei the area for more than three hours on Wednesday night, dropping 29 tons ot bombs on'the airfield and airmen’s quarters. Fragmentation and 10001 b. bombs caused heavy explosions and started fires Four enemy fighters were seen over the target but they failed to intercept, and the anti-aircraft fire was moderate. Other Allied bombers on Wednesday night attacked Hollandia following the great day raid there, and fresh fires were added to those still burning. A large ammunition dump received a “'rect These attacks on Wadke and are regarded as significant since they show that the enemy’s supply hues to Hollandia, ns well as that base itseh, are now vulnerable to the Allied lon„rauge bombers based iu north-east New Guinea. . „ Coastal Cratt Sunk.

Wewak, further down the New Guinea coast, was hit on both Wednesday and Thursday. Thunderbolts and bomb-carry-ing Kittyhawks left a 7900-ton freighter burning fiercely and also sank a lugger and eight barges. A subsequent attack on the Borain and Dagua aerodromes iu the Wewak area resulted iu the destruction of five parked planes. In the Hansa Bay-Madang area 10 Japanese barges were destroyed or damaged by our attacking aircraft, and five others were sunk by our patrol torpedo-boats in a night sweep. . , ■ . Rabaul, New Britain, and Kavieng, New Ireland, have again been raided by Solomons-based bombers. With dwindling targets in these areas the attacks were on a comparatively light scale. North of Australia Bcaufighters set fire to an oil-laden tanker near Timor, 010 miles north-west of Darwin. General MacArthur’s bombers have also made a further night attack on Dublon, Truk, dropping 51 tons or bombs. Further reports of the attack on Truk by. Solomons-based Liberators on April 2 gave an additional 13 Japanese fighters destroyed, making a total of 38. Five Liberators were lost.