SMASHED BY ALLIES

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 82, 6 April 1944, Page 5

SMASHED BY ALLIES

GREAT RAID ON HOLLANDIA

(Special P.A. Correspondent.) . SYDNEY, April 5. A Japanese air fleet of 288 planes concentrated at Holland ia, in Dutch New Guinea, has been wiped out. Its destruction was completed on Monday in the greatest aerial assault ever launched in the South-west Pacific area. Powerful formations" of Allied aircraft dropped 400 tons of bombs and fired 275,000 rounds of cannon and machine-gun ammunition, leaving: Hoilandia's airfields strewn with shattered and burning enemy planes. The story of the raid is told by General Mac Arthur's communique, which says: "Our heavy bombers started the attack by destroying or silencing, the anti-aircraft defences. Our medium and light bombers followed, and in wave after wave swept the dispersal bays, revetments, and landing strips. "The runways were left unserviceable and equipment and installations were heavily damaged. Smoke from burning planes and fuel dumps totally obscured the target. In the air, we destroyed 26 intercepting enemy fighters for the loss of one plane. "The enemyls strong air reserves built up in this area have been destroyed at negligible cost to us. Of the 288 planes present in the area on March 30, all have been demolished or irreparably damaged." Since last Wednesday three smashing attacks have been made on Hollandia's three airfields—Hollandia, Cyclops, and Sentani. In the first strike, ]25 enemy planes were destroyed or damaged. The second strike made last Friday brought the Japanese aircraft losses at the base to 189 destroyed, with 15 others probably destroyed. 300 PLANES EMPLOYED. Monday's assault was made by about 300 bombers and fighters—Liberators, Mitchells, Bostons, and Lightnings. They accomplished their objective of knocking out the remaining enemy air strength in one hour 13 minutes. The Liberators were first over the target area, dropping 10001b bombs from a medium altitude on to the antiaircraft positions. They were followed

by the Mitchells and Bostons, which swept in at tree-top height, bombing and strafing. So effective was their concentrated attack that the enemy's anti-aircraft defences finally dwindled to nothing as the Japanese gun crews became casualties, or fled from their posts. The Allied bombers which were last over the target found their objectives totally obscured by smoke from great fires. Numbers of twin-engined bombers were among the enemy planes which were observed burning on the shattered airstrips. Other heavy blows against the Japanese reported by General Mac Arthur's communique today included further attacks on Rabaul, when planes from the Solomons dropped 121 tons of bombs on Lakunai aerodrome and supply areas. Fighter sweeps along the coast destroyed eight barges and 14 trucks. Two of our planes are missing. . Allied light naval units on night patrol sank two enemy barges and captured a third. Enemy bases attacked on the New Guinea coast were at Hansa Bay and near Madang. Our patrol torpedo-boate sank four barges in this area. North of Australia, Penfoei, in Timor, and Langgoer, in the Kei Islands, were bombed, nearly 60 tons of explosives being dropped at Langgoer.