INCREASING RESISTANCE

Evening Star, Issue 25067, 7 January 1944, Page 3

INCREASING RESISTANCE

JAPANESE ON CAPE GLOUCESTER AMERICANS USING TANKS (N.Z.P.A. Special Ausf. Correspondent) SYDNEY, January 6: American . marines are using tanks and artillery against strong Japanese resistance east of Cape Gloucester, in New Britain. Our troops are advancing slowly towards Borgen Bay, but are encountering increasing enemy activity. The Japanese counter-attack on Sunday, when the enemy was repulsed, leaving behind 200 dead, was followed by another strong counterattack early on Tuesday morning. This was repulsed, and the marines then took the initiative, driving forward with tank protection and under the cover of an artillery barrage. The Japanese employed field guns in an effort to stem the American advance, the extent of which has not been reported. At" the two other Allied invasion beachheads ill the South-w-est Paeifio area, Arawo, in Southern New Britain, and Saidor, in Northern New Guinea, the Americans are enlarging their holdings. HUON PENINSULA. Some eight miles south-east of Saidor the Australian forces continue to advance up the Huon Peninsula "coast at an average rate of four miles a day. They are closing in on Sio, the Japanese barge base 50 miles northwest of Allied-held Finschhafen. The Japanese, who are making a disorderly retreat, are believed to be trying to evacuate some of their troops by sea. The enemy forces are caught between the Australians advancing up the peninsula and the Americans at, Saidor. Pursuit of the broken remnants of the Japanese rearguard has developed largely into mopping-up operation. The enemy is discarding equipment and all superfluous weight, including much personal gear, in his flight. Japanese soldiers who have been unable ,to keep pace with the retreat have been left to die on the track. Wounded have also been left behind. Australian patrols, moving through the mountainous country inland, have wiped out numibers of Japanese found living on native foods and roots in thehills.