MOUNTAIN DEFENCES BLASTED

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 281, 24 August 1944, Page 5

MOUNTAIN DEFENCES BLASTED

(Received August 23, 7.10 p.m.) CHUNGKING, August, 22,

Three tons of T.N.T. placed into earth rock by Chinese and American engineers blew the top off the Sungshau mountain, including the Japanese fortifications, killing many occupants, says the United Press correspondent with the Chinese forces west of the Salween. The Chinese battled painfully for two months to knock the enemy off this peak. They still must clear the enemy from heavy fortifications on the mountain’s western slope and other ridges before the Burma Road is accessible to trucks, but they now hold the highest peak there. The explosion caused no shock and little sound. A column of earth and rocks blossomed suddenly over the barren, blasted mountain peak. Boulders and logs showered down, and the Chinese and American guns which paused momentarily while the T.N.T. exploded, began shelling the Japanese. in the opposite valley and while Chinese infantry stormed into the dust to capture the peak. . The troops worked for a fortnight digging a trench up the nearly vertical mountainside, then tunnelled in to it 45 feet below the main enemy’ fortifications and dug two' main pockets for the explosives. __________