JAPANESE DISASTER.

Greymouth Evening Star, 5 March 1943, Page 5

JAPANESE DISASTER.

WHOLE CONVOY DESTROYED

AERIAL PROTECTION’ SHATTERED

Thousands of Troops Drowned

(N.Z.I’.A, Special Australian Correspondent)

SYDNEY, March 4. The entire Japanese convoy of 22 ships which attempted for two days to reach Lae, in New Guinea, has been sunk or is sinking With the ships have been lost about 15,000 enemy troops, believed to have been intended for a new land assault. Fifty-five Japanese fighters which were attempting to provide air cover for the convoy have been put out of action and many others damaged. The Allied losses in this battle, the war’s most sensational air and sea victory of annihilation, were one bomber and three fighters shot down, with other aircraft damaged but able to reach their bases. General MacArthur s air forces achieved, in the words of to-day’s communique, “a victory of such completeness as to assume the proportions of a major disaster to the enemy.” The communique adds: “This decisive success must have an . important result on the enemy’s strategic and tactical plans. His • campaign, for the time being at least, is completely dislocated.” During Wednesday afternoon the original Japanese force of 14 warshins and transports was joined by eight other vessels. Of the complete convoy 12 vessels were transports and 10 were warships—cruisers or destroyers. They totalled 90,000 tons. When the news of the outcome of the battle reached General MacArthus his only comment was: “A merciful Providence has guarded us in this great victory.” Not a single ship ot the Japanese convoy forced a landing, and not a man of the new invasion force reached the New Guinea shore. The battle is now virtually completed. The enemy fleet has been battered out of existence and its scattered remnants are being pursued and sunk. Every ship that has not already gone to the bottom has been hit and is badly damaged. Great destruction was caused during Wednesday, when 42 Japanese aircraft were shot out of action in their vain attempts to protect the convoy. In one 24-hour period up to noon on Wednesday, Allied heavy bombers, flying in almost ceaseless relays over the convoy, dropped more than 100 tons of bombs. In a single strafing sweep by medium bombers 17.000 rounds of ammunition were shot into the targets. The news of the magnitude of the victory, which is the only complete annihilation of a convoy on record in this war, caused surprise and jubilation. In 24 hours the toll ot destruction had leapt amazingly from two ships sunk and two damaged to 22 ships either sunk or badly damaged, with our attacks _ against the bettered survivors continuing, ihc communique says: “All the ships are sunk or sinking.”. No vessel came nearer than 40 miles from the New Guinea shore, and the latest air reconnaissance reports reveal no enemy personnel in small boats. A General Headquarters spokesman declared: “This victory was complete because the convoy was anticipated and its intentions diagnos ed. During the apparent temporary lull in activities our air force was. conditioned and prepared lor the attU“This brilliant victory stands in its true perspective when two facts arc realised.” says the war correspondent iif the Svclnev “Sun. The fust is that the loss of 15,000 ground troops does not include naval personnel and the crews of the transports, which would raise the total, by a few thousands. The second is that the victory is equivalent to the wiping out of at least a Japanese division with enormous amounts of equipment. ATTACKS DESCRIBED Details of the separate attack’s made on the convoy are by no means complete. Further reports of the operations begun on luesday show \that the third wave of Hying loitresses to attack the -Mps scoiec > hit and one near miss. InteicepUd by 15 to 20 Zeros, the bombers destroyed three of them. Iho results ol thu action were not available inWednesday's account ot the battle. In the final dusk attack on l.uesday Fmtresses registered two direct hits c.nc two near misses on a 60 P T °" ton which was left sinking. Near misse. damaged two other cargo two of 15 Zeros were sent spinning

Tuesday night, Australian long-range Catalina flying-boats kept contact with the convoy, and in an attack before dawn on Wednesday they scored a hit on a warship, believed to be a cruiser. Later in the morning Havoc fighter-bombers inflicted crippling damage in masthigh attacks. A 6000-ton cargo ship was hit and left in flames. Another 6000-ton ship was hit a number o times and burst into flames beloie it exploded. A third 6000-ton ca ’S° ship met the same fate, and a smaller vessel, 150 feet long, exploded with a terrific blast. After two more 6000ton cargo ships had been hit, Mitchell medium-bombers took up the attack. They sank a destroyer and two 5000ton cargo ships, and an 88 00-ton transport was left burning fieicely after two direct hits. Later, omei warships and transports were hit until not a single vessel of the convoy had escaped. Details of the tmal ooerations have not been revealed. 'During these attacks dogfights raged overhead between large formations of Allied Lockheed Lightnings and enemy fighters of mixed types. These actions, which greatly assisted our bombers in their pursuit of the enemy ships, took place at from 20,000 to 25,000 feet and caused considerable destruction among the enemy fighters. Meanwhile, the Allied Air Foice had not forgotten the Lae and Finschhafen airfields, which could serve as bases for the convoy’s air umbrella. In addition to the 55 enemy aircraft shot out of action over the Bismarck Sea, seven more enemy fighters were destroyed or damaged in air battles over the Lae aerodrome. Our attacks on the field were maintained throughout Wednesday. Allied air action against what was left of the convoy continued into Wedneday night, when the last battered ships finally turned tail in an endeavour to escape. TWO DESTROYERS LEFT LONDON, March 4. A dispatch to the 8.8. C. from Australia says that two destroyers were all that remained this morning of the Japanese convoy destroyed by the Allied air forces north of New Guinea. One of the destroyers was damaged and down by the stern. More Allied bombers have gone up to finish off these survivors. *

INDIVIDUAL SCORES

(N.Z.P.A. Special Australian Correspondent).

(Rec. 9.15 a.m.) SYDNEY, March 5. “A drama as tense as any m a movie air war thriller was enacted throughout Tuesday in the radio room of the Flying Fortress base, writes an Australian war correS£>on-

dent from New Guinea. “Every few minutes came short staccato aiessages telling of a Japanese ship hit, of another exploding, of one in flames, and one turning over and sinking. . , z “Fortresses bore the weight ot tne first attacks on the convoy made in difficult weather, which later moderated.” Hour after hour they took off for the fight which came after a few days’ inactivity bemoaned by the crews. It was a Liberator, piloted by Lieutenant Walter Higgins, ot Forest City, Arkansas, which n rst sighted the convoy at noon on Monday. The Fortress crews were quickly briefed and the big planes took off into the overcast sky. The misty rain of the late monsoon, however, sheltered the fourteen enemy ships. But they were sighted again on Tuesday morning, and shadowed until the first attacking Fortress arrived at ten Major Edward Scott, ot Starkville (Mass.) was credited with his tilth enemy ship when he scored live direct hits on an eight thousand to ten thousand-ton transport. It was tne first blood drawn. Lieut. James Mui phy of Roundup (Montana) went one better, when he was credited with his sixth sinking, a six thousand-ton IBack at operational headquarters, intelligence officers, examining reports and photographs, established that the Fortresses, in the first day s operations had hit at least nine enemy ships. . One Fortress caught fire in the bomb bay, when anti-aircraft shrapnel broke an inflammable oil line. While eight Zeros set upon the damaged bomber, the crew fought a 20minute fight with the flames, and brought their plane safely home. Improved weather throughout Wednesday assisted the Allied air attacks, which were principally maintained by Havoc fighter bombers, Mitchell medium bombers, with Foitresses continuing, to participate. Tne convoy was now reinforced by eight additional ships, making the lull complement 22, including cruisers, destroyers and merchantmen, ranging from a transport of ten thousand tons, to cargo ships ol five hundied to eight hundred tons.

LORD GOWRIE’S MESSAGE

RUGBY, March 4

The Governor-General of Australia, in a mesagc to General MacArthur, paid a tribute to the success of the Allied operations which smashed the Japanese convoy, stales a Canberra message. “The success ol the operations,” Lord Gowne said, “was unattainable without careful planning, thorough training, and skin and courage of the highest order. This operation without doubt will take a high place in the history of aerial warfare, and reflects greatest credit on all concerned. . MR. CURTIN’S TRIBUTE. (Recd. l.uO g^ BERRA) March 5. “I am sure the House would wish me to express to the Commander-in-Chief (General MacArthur) and the gallant forces serving under his direction our pride and admiration in this' feat,” said the Prime Minister (Mr. Curtin) to a cheering House of Representatives, announcing the victory of the Bismarck Sea. He added: “We do not know how long the war will last. But we can be certain it will not be lost because of any deficiency in our fighting forces or the way they are led. I do not believe there is any other factor which will cause our defeat. Never before have we had cause for such confidence in the final result. “One more final thought m my heart—for it is more in my ( ie ait than in my mind—l would that the people who are being kept sate by the exploits of our fighting forces emulated them by sobriety of conduct in work and social relationships, which would not only increase then capacity to serve the fighting lorces but would at the same time, contribute to the greater quality ol the nation.”

SYDNEY PRESS COMMENT INCIDENTS OF THE FIGHT. (N.Z.P.A. Special Australian Correspondent]. (Rec. 12.30 p.m.fsYDNEY March 4 Three burning transport hulks and two badly damaged destroyers were all that were left afloat of the Japanese New Guinea invasion armada on Wednesday night. It is thought probable that all five ships have now been sent to the bottom. The great battle of the Bismarck Sea, which opened on Tuesday morning, virtually ended on night. The enemy division wiped out is believed to have been intended for a new invasion of Australian-held New Guinea. War observers expect the battle to go down in military history as a classic example of the efficacy of land-based bombing attacks on a sea force covered by fighters. The victory is variously described as the greatest single feat of arms that has been wrought in the south-west Pacific area,” and as the most complete victory won in defence of the approaches to Australia.

Seldom in warfare has so much been won at so little cost, says the Sydney “Herald” editorially, to-day. The gratitude and admiration of all Australians will go out to the men who planned and executed this decisive stroke. They have pierced the clouds which were gathering darkly ; about our north, and given us more time to prepare our counterblows, and deepened our confidence in the ! weapons which are being fashioned to ensure the final overthrow of ! Japan. Throughout Australia, attention is ! again focussed on air power as the ■ key to Pacific victory. Federal Parliamentarians again stress the ■ punishing power with which more ’ aircraft could strip the Japanese in I this theatre. It is recalled that at • the conclusion the Papuan cam- ' paign, General MacArthur, in his communique of January 24, said the 3 outstanding military lesson of this 5 campaign was the continuous calcu- ' lated application of.airpower. 1 “Land-based aircraft alone achieved the equivalent of both a great military and great naval victory, comments the Sydney “Herald. l ne Japanese Division destined for New Guinea perished without firing a ’ shot. Had it succeeded in landing, ( many gallant Australian and Aine- ' rican soldiers would have had to tali in combat against it.” i War observers here agree that for I the future, Japan, with no lack of r soldiers, but with her shipping resources heavily depleted, will oe forced to reconsider the problem of moving them about her island arc. The command of the air has given . the Allies a considerable control oi the sea. , , „ J- i War correspondents, to-day, tell of II the final scenes ”in the convoy battle. The Sydney - “Telegraph” writer says: “As dUsK

fell over the Huon Gulf on Wednesday. a Fortress on reconnaissance reported the last floating remnants of the convoy. A large destroyer was moving slowly with heavy oil slick pouring from the stern. A smaller destroyer was low in the water with a large hole seen at the waterline on the starboard side.’’ These were the only enemy warships then afloat. Other reports tell of lifeboat wreckage and enemy dead, littering the water more than 50 miles from ( the New Guinea coast. Three cargo . ships still afloat, were then burning ; fiercely. ( According to pilots who took part, the main convoy battle was centred . in an area about ten miles square. Japanese warships are reported to have gone ahead to screen transports ! and merchantmen from attack. But : Allied aircraft in the initial sweeps, ( ignored the warships, which were unable to get back in time to defend ( their charges. The actual attacks are - described as a combination of highlevel bombing, strafing, and low- ■ level bombing. . j Beaufighters, with an air-cover of : Lockheed Lightnings, are now re- ■ vealed to have played a considerable ' part in the victory. While their mam purpose was to strafe ships and ham- : per the anti-aircraft gun crews, they succeeded in setting at least four ves- , seis' alight. Their pilots described 1 the bombing attacks by Fortresses, Mitchells and Havocs as “the most beautiful we have seen.” Torpedocarrying Beauforts also made a predawn raid on the convoy on Wednesday, but it was impossible to observe . results, as the Beauforts had to be clear of the area before the Zeros could attack the relatively slow air- , craft. One airman said that the Zeros, of which 33 were destroyed , and 22 probably destroyed, and many others damaged, made a grim defence l ( of the ships. One American Fortress pilot remarked: “Those Zero boys 1 were picked men. I have never seen Zeros so rugged. They must have had a pep talk last night. Some came so close you could throw a rock at them.” . When a pilot who had taken part in the Lae convoy battle of January was asked how the latest action compared with the earlier one, he said: “There isn’t any comparison. That , time, some of the convoy reached Lae. This time we got the lot.” U.S.A. JUBILATION (Recd. 12.50 p.m.) NEW YORK, March 4. The news of General MacArthur’s great air victory over the Japanese convoy has thrilled America. In New York, excited crowds coming from cinemas and theatres along Broadway, sought the first editions of the morning papers containing the story. Newsboys had one of their greatest selling sessions of the war. “ For some days, Americans have been reading that the Australians feared a Japanese attempt to invade their continent, but this threat is now felt to be dead. The latest success puts MacArthur on what has been described as a “dazzling pinnacle,” with his great reputation as soldier and leader of men, higher than ever. . “The Japanese disaster in the Bismarck Sea has loosened the Japanese <>rip on the whole Southern Pacific area,” declares the American Associated Press military commentator, Glenn Babb. “The Japanese setback has a significance comparable only with their failure to prevent the Americans from landing in the Solomons. It shows a new phase ol tne Pacific war is well under way, marked by such tremendous Allied air superiority as to virtually deny the seas to any major Japanese convoy attempting to move far south of the enemy’s main bases. The- annihilation of the Armada has virtually neu - tralised 'the great Japanese base at Rabaul for offensive purposes. _ The battle indicates Allied air superiority in the Southern Pacific is increasing at a rate which must alarm Tokio. Another American ■ Associated Press report says that Washington Navy officials are interested in how many of the ten warships sunk were cruisers. If the majority destroyed were cruisers their loss would be a serious blow to Japan. The warship component of a similar sized convoy usually consists of six destroyers, two light cruisers and two heavy cruisers- The absence of aircraft-caiiieis in the convoy has caused immediate speculation whether losses are forcing the Japanese to husband then carriers for special forays. From London, come reports that the smashing of the Japanese convoy has taken precedence over all other news in the British Press. It is hailed everywhere as one of Japan’s greatest defeats. Some observers regard it as striking evidence iof MacArthur’s ability to achieve ‘■ncctacular successes with resources conceded to be less than the British people would like to see The victory hnq emphasised the case foi even greate? Allied air striking power m the Southern Pacific. SPITFIRES AT DARWIN

SYDNEY, March 4. J The famous Spitfire, the world s , greatest fighter, is in action in t . Q/vii+h wpql Pacific sreEL This was an nounced 7 to-day Iby the Prime Mims- ■ ter (Mr. Curtin). shjt • <;ix of the Japanese fighters snot down in the enemy’s noon raid on , Darwin on Tuesday. hTen in ' that Spitfire squadrons had been in Australia for some time, but then presence had been kept secret so that the element of surprise’ be e nloited to the utmost. Now that this object had been realised, he could tell of this splendid acquisition by Australia’s defence forces'. Mr. Curtin revealed that pilots ol the Royal Air Force, as well as Australians, were flying forward battle areas. . A H, th ® SS were veterans of many battles agau the Luftwaffe. The squadrons came to Australia as complete battle ooits, bringing with them their ground staffs and all equipment. The machines and their engines had been especially adapted for service in tropica! areas. The Spitfire squadrons m this theatre had been made available by Mr. Churchill after his talks with the Australian Minister of External Affairs (Dr. Evatt) in London last year said Mr. Curtin. Although it had been agreed that the primary responsibility in this area rested with the United States, Mr. Churchill s action made it clear that this did not in any way lessen Britain’s interest in tne southern Pacific. The idea of sending .Spitfires to Australia was Mr. Churchill s, and Mr. Curtin described it as an outstanding material expression of . tne constant mutual support which binds together the nations of the British Commonwealth.” The Prime Minister said it was fitting that he should be able to give public expression of Australia’s gratitude on the eve of Dr. Evatt’s second mission abroad. Allied troops at battle stations would be heartened and inspired by the presence of these redoubtable British fighting aeroplanes. . The Japanese fighters shot into the sea after their low-level strafing attack on an aerodrome near Darwin on Tuesday were surprised by Spitfires on their way home. Pilots have reported that the enemy pilots showed ho inclination to continue the fight to a finish, but quickly broke off the engagement when they discovered the battle was going against them. One Spitfire pilot shot down two enemy aeroplanes. .