BOMBS ON JAPAN

Greymouth Evening Star, 17 June 1944, Page 5

BOMBS ON JAPAN

STEEL PLANTS AS TARGETS SUPERFORTRESSES’ TRIUMPH (Rec. 9.25 a.m.) NEW YORK, June 16? The Superfortresses dropped tons upon tons of bombs on Japanese steel plants, but suffered some losses. The attack was carried out to the almost complete amazement of the Japanese, says Roy Porter, representing the combined American radio networks on the Superfortress bombings. “Explosives dropped on coke ovens and openhearth furnaces. Flak poured into the skies. Bullets and shell fragments dug deeply into the bombers, but the engines kept turning.. Nearly all returned. , The planes left great masses of wreckage overhung by a gigantic smoke pall, stretching miles into the air. The attack demonstrated that though the enemy was caught by surprise, he has prepared defences and can marshal enough night fighters, at least, to cause some interference with our bombing pattern. lor the most part during the first period of this regular mission against the Japanese mainland, very little developed except searchlights and flak. In the second phase, the flak died down. The third period was crucial. Then the Japanese fighters pressed home the attack with only meagre results. Superfortresses reporting to the base early to-day could show some bullet holes but very little material damage. The Superfortress, planned and executed as an offensive weapon, proved its worth.” Eleven war correspondents accompanied the raiders. The Associated Press correspondent said. Jhe Supei - fortresses’ raid against Yawata may. have knocked out one-filth of the, Japanese steel production. The conespondent quoted Brigadier General Wolfe as saying: “This is but the beginning of our organised destruction of the Japanese industrial empire.

' TUNNEL OBJECTIVE WASHINGTON, June 16. The United Press says an attack was made on Moji, which indicates that one of the bombers’ objectives was to sever the railway communication system at its bottleneck—the Moji-Shimonoseki tunnel, connecting the Kvushu and Honshu Islands. It is pointed out that if the entrance to the' tunnel were destroyed, the railway service could be disrupted lor a long time. The tunnel, opened two years ago. enables trains from Tokio and Osaka to go direct to leading Kyushu ports, including the big naval base of Sasebo and the commercial steamship centre of Nagasaki. The “New York Times,” in a leading article, says that, contrary to reports that Japan had shifted her war industry to Korea and Manchuria, it is believed that the bulk of her shipyards, steel mills, aeroplane factories, and other key industries are still concentrated on the Honshu and Kyushu Islands. Therefore the crippling of these centres by bombing would immediately be felt by the entire Japanese~Empire. Japanese radio stations issued a number of reports minimising the importance of the attacks. One broadcast said one or two factories blazed up as a result of the bombing. The bombers used bases in Western China constructed entirely by hand by almost 500,000 Chinese farmers, says an Associated Press correspondent formerly stationed at Chungking. Specific plans for the destruction ol Japan from Chinese bases were laid in Washington in the Autumn of 1943. ■

PILOTS’ REPORT.

RUGBY, June 16

A Washington message gives the text of the "United States War Department communique (preliminary ■ and incomplete) regarding the air attack on Japan: “A sizeable task force of Fortresses bombed the industrial areas of Yawata on Kyushu Island in the Japanese homeland on June 15. Preliminary reports reveal that although enemy aircraft were encountered and anti-aircraft fire was moderate to intense, not one of the plants was lost as the result of enemy action. The pilots who participated in the mission report the bombing was accurate and large fires and explosions were observed. The planes operated from bases in China which were completed recently. Two Fortresses were lost as the result of accidents. The crew of one are safe.

WASHINGTON, June 16

A supplementary Twentieth Airforce communique, amending the earlier communique says: “Our bombing was accurate and effective. Enemy fighters offered some resistance to a few units. Flak was moderate to intense over the target area. No enemy planes were shot down. There were no casualties aboard returning aircraft. Four of the planes failed to return. One lost was due to flak over the target. Two failed to return due to accidents, but one crew is known to be safe. The ■fourth plane is missing.” “DAMAGE VERY SLIGHT.” (Rec. 9.25) NEW YORK, June 16. A Japanese communique states: American bombers also bombed Shimonoseki, on Honshu Island. The communique claimed that seven planes were shot down and three damaged. It added: Except for several casualties suffered by the ground forces, the Japanese Air Force and ground installations suffered almost no loss. Fires started in several places were quickly extinguished. Tokio radio said: It is presumed the Super Fortresses took off from Siam. The raiders hit the Yawata iron works with only a few bomb fragments without damaging the plant facilities. The Japanese Cabinet met this morning, when the Ministers of Home Affairs, Munitions, Transport and Communications reported that the raid damage was very slight. KOREA RAIDED NEW~YORK, June 16.

Tokio radio announced that several planes raided .Korea early yesterday. The Japanese army claimed that the raiders inflicted no losses.

Dome! News Agency says: Several aircraft attacked South Korea, possibly as part of a general assault against Japanese rail communications, including Fusan rail-ferry terminal on the South Korean coast, 140 miles from Moji. An enemy task force this afternoon, (Tokio time) attacked Bonin Islands, states a Japanese communique, broadcast by the Tokio radio. The enemy raided Chichijima and Iwojima, about six hundred miles from the Japanese mainland. OFFICIAL DESCRIPTIONS. WASHINGTON, June 16. . The War Department has disclosed that the Superfortresses are heavily armoured aircraft whose bomb load, runge, and ceiling exceed those of any other aeroplane. The Superfortress is powered by four engines, each of 2200 horse-power. The wingspan is 141 feet compared with the Flying Fortress’s wingspan of 104 feet. The Superfortress can. drop bombs from higher than 30,000 feet and has a cruising speed of more than 300 miles an hour. The armament includes .50

calibre machine-guns in power turrets and 20-millimetre cannon. Com-’ forts for the crew surpass anything in any previous war aeroplane. The cabin is sound proof and four cots and many minor conveniences increase the crew’s efficiency in long flights. The War Department has also released the following statement by General Arnold: “The use of the 829 in combat brings actuality to an Air Force plan made years in advance for truly global aerial warfare. It proves that our planners and engineers, with the capacity of American industry, are an unbeatable combination. The result is here, a highly complicated, most deadly aeroplane, capable of deJivering the heaviest blows yet known through airpower. I assume heavy responsibility* for its potential use. This makes possible a softening up attack on Japan very much earlier than would have beempossible with aircraft hitherto known to combat. This mighty weapon advances the bombei Tine a long way. The employment of the 829 is just beginning. It goes directly into battle from the production lines, and we have much to learn before its full power may be developed. Consequently, the frequency of its usage will carefully be determined for some time. From this cncumstance let our enemies take what comfort they can while they can.

An announcement that the Boeing E 29 or Superfortress was in production and would soon be in operation was made in May by Brigadier - General Caleb Haynes, commander of the United States Ist Bomber Command, in an article in the International Aviation Year Book. He said they were capable of cruising at faster than 350 miles an hour at an altitude of more than 35,000 feet with a bomb load greatly exceeding present loads. More detail was given about the same time by English magazines “Aeroplane” and “Flight.” According to “Aeroplane.” the 829 had been nicknamed the “Tokio Bomber,” and would be capaffie of delivering attacks on the Japanese capital from the outer Aleutians and other places. The Boeing Company then was delivering more Superfortresses every month "than it had delivered Flying Fortresses in the whole of 1939.

“Flight” said the fully loaded weigiit was between 50 and 60 tons (about twice the weight of a Lancaster or Flying Fortress). It retained the general features of the Flying Fortress but had a tricycle landing gear with double tyres on each wheel. From “Flight’s” description, it can carry a load of eight tons of bombs 1000 miles, or three tons 3000 miles. There are turrets in the nose, belly, top, and tail, in addition to side turrets operated by remote control.