TRAPPED FORCES

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVIII, Issue 11, 13 July 1944, Page 5

TRAPPED FORCES

JAPANESE HARRIED

(Special P..A. Correspondent.) SYDNEY, July 12.

While American forces are driving east from Aitape and Australians are west of the Sepik River, the 30,000 Japanese trapped on the New Guinea coast are being constantly harried by sea and air. This relentless mauling is hampering any plans of the beleaguered Japanese to break out of the trap.

Since the beginning of July, more than 60 barges, most of them heavily laden, have been attacked in this area, the majority being either sunk or seriously damaged.

Air attacks reported by General Mac Arthur's communique today resulted in the destruction of six barges on the Wewak-Aitape sector. Though bad weather has restricted air operations throughout the South-west Pacific, General Mac Arthur's bombers penetrated a rain and cloud screen to make their sixteenth raid on Yap, in the western Carolines—the fifth daylight strike at this major enemy supply base in six days.

Each attack has been fiercely contested by the Japanese air defences. In Monday's raid, five of 20 interceptors were shot down during a 30----minute battle.

Closer to the New Guinea mainland, another Liberator patrol scored damaging near-misses on a 10,000-ton tanker and left it dead in the water close to Morotai Island, near Halmaheira. Two small merchant vessels north-west of Boela, near Ceram, were attacked and forced on to a beach.