PHILIPPINES OPERATIONS

Greymouth Evening Star, 28 December 1944, Page 2

PHILIPPINES OPERATIONS

MOSTLY AERIAL ATTACKS

JAP. LOSSES HEAVY

WASHINGTON, Dec. 26

1, | The American air offensive against j Luzon, the largest island in the Phili ippines Group, is being continued. > General MacArthur’s latest communi- : que does not mention the operations ■j on Mindoro Island, where no enemy ! ground opposition has been reported, r but it records that small enemy remInants on Leyte are being mopped up. i I The communique says:—“Escorted heavy bombers have again struck at the important air centre. Clark Field, on Luzon Island, dropping 44 tons on Bebalacet runway. Fighter cover fought off attempted intervention by 50 enemy aeroplanes. We shot down 39, bringing the total of enemy flght1 ers shot down in this area in the last , two days to 72 certain and nine pro- ; babies. Our losses were six fighters, i Our general forces on Leyte Island j continue the mopping up of small eni emy remnants capable of only minor j opposition. 1 “Fighter-bombers attacked runI ways and dispersal areas at Silay, - Negros, destroying one parked aero- ; plane. Heavy bombers hit Sessa aero--1 drome, on Mindanao, starting fires, i Medium units attacked shipping in i Davao Gulf and damaged warehouses ■j and barracks in the Zamboanga area, j One of our patrol aeroplanes was ] shot down by an enemy fighter, but 3 all the personnel were rescued. ® “Air patrols bombed the waterfront I at Brunel Bay and barracks at Jesi selton (Borneo), and a power plant at Putong. We sank a 2000-ton ( freighter, a smaller freighter, and 3 two barges, and damaged a coastal 1 vessel. Medium and fighter-bombers, 1 carrying 115 tons, struck at enemy i bivouacs, supply facilities, and dei fence installations at Lolobata, Hatatabako, and Wasile Bay, in the Moluccas, hitting buildings and flak I positions, and starting large fires and — explosions. Air and naval patrols I""' strafed shore targets in northern Halmahera and damaged a coastal vessel off the Talaudi Islands.” The Leyte correspondent of the “New York Times” reports that Major Thomas McGuire shot down three Japanese aircraft on Monday and two on Tuesday, bringing his tally to 38, within two of Major Bong, who is now grounded. Major McGuire is America’s second fighter pilot. He holds nine air medals. JAPS. BOMB _ SAIPAN WASHINGTON, December 26. “About 20 enemy aeroplanes attacked an airstrip on Saipan Island on Sunday night,” says a UnitedStates Pacific Fleet communique “Our fighters shot down three aeroplanes and flak destroyed a fourth. One of our planes wasodestroyed on * the ground. i “Our Liberators have again bomb--15 ed Japanese airstrips and aeroplane :? dispersal areas on Iwo Jima, in the i Bonms. Other aircraft attacked Rota 2 and Babelthuap.” ? SUPERFORTRESSES’ RAID. | WASHINGTON, December 27. J The United States War Department 5 has announced that Superfortresses ? from Saipan Island bombed industrial 4 targets in the Tokio area at daylight z to-day (Wednesday). No details are I yet available. ? “Brigadier-General H. S. Hansell, z commander of the United States 21st | Bomber Command, has disclosed that , Superfortresses, in the first month’s ' operations against- Japan from the • ; Marianas, dropped more than : ; 3,000,0001 b of bombs on Honshiu ur- • > ban industrial centres, including air- ( ' craft factory areas,” says the Saipan • ' correspondent of the Associated , I Press. “The Hatsudoki plant, the ; ; largest in Japan, is now out of busi- 1 ; }ness with at least 40 per cent, of the f ; buildings destroyed or gutted. The j » Kokuki plant is extensively damaged < > and production interrupted. Two ■ 1 B29’s (Superfortresses) have been ] I lost over the targets and others have < I been lost in operations at sea. The ( ; losses at sea have been fewer than i ; was expected, and more than half of , ! the crews have been rescued. Briga- j • dier-General Hansell said he was by ( no means satisfied with the achieve- f ment so far, and that there was much , to learn.” JAPANESE ’CLAIMS (Recd. 10 a.m.) NEW YORK, Dec. 27. 1 f Tokio radio said that fifty Super- ' (fortresses raided Tokio in daylight to- !

day. The radio claimed that nine were shot down, five probably destroyed and twenty-seven damaged Four Japanese interceptors were lost, two by crashdiving on the enemy. ; The radio also stated that Japanese I naval surface craft and air units atH tacked an American convoy off Min- ~ doro on Tuesday night and sank or damaged four fully laden American transports and destroyed two torpedo boats. ANOTHER BOMBARDMENT (Reed. 1 p.m.) WASHINGTON, Dec. 27. Surface units of the Pacific fleet bombarded Iwojima yesterday, says a Pacific Fleet communique. The targets included coastal defences, airstrip installations and enemy landings. One ship was set on fire, and one enemy gunboat was blown up by gunfire. Two of our ships suffered slight damage from enemy coastal guns. The attack was a joint operation with the Pacific strategic air force. Liberators bombed Iwojima airstrips. Only two enemy fighters were seen in the air. Several of our aircraft suffered minor damage from flak but all returned safely. Neutralisation attacks continued on the Marshalls on Monday and Tuesday. U.S.A. SUBMARINES’ SUCCESS 27 MORE JAP. SHIPS (Recd. 11.30 a.m.) WASHINGTON, Dec. 27. American submarines have sunk a large Japanese aircraft carrier, six other warships and 20 merchaint vessels. Mr. Forrestal announced these successes in the Far East at a Press conference to-day. The warships comprised a light cruiser, a destroyer, two escort vessels, and two destroyer transports. Other vessels sunk comprised two large transports and one small transport, 10 medium and three sma4l cargo vessels. The vessels sunk by American submarines alone represent 3.500,000 tons of enemy shipping destroyed. Mr. Forrestal added that he regretted he was unable to tell the full story of the submarine activities, because of the need of withholding information from the enemy. Referring to the Japanese aircraft .carrier sunk, Mr. Forrestal said: This is hitting one of the most painful spots in the Japanese body at the moment. AMERICAN LOSS (Rec. 11.40 a.m.) WASHINGTON, December 27. Admiral Nimitz announced that American warships and planes again bombarded Iwo-Jima yesterday. A Navy communique announced the loss off Leyte, of Landing Strip L.S.M. 20, as the result of enemy action. The Navy identified the destroyed Cooper as the vessel General MacArthur announced had been lost I in Philippine waters as the result of 1 a night action. The commanders of both vessels survived.

U.S.A. NAVAL DOMINATION WASHINGTON, December 26. “All the vessels lost in the battle of the Philippines last October, in which the Japanese navy was routed, have-been announced,” said the United State Navy Secretary (Mr. Forrestal), in denying at his Press conference to-day rumours that the United State Navy had not announced all its losses. He added that all aeroplanes lost in combat had also been announced. “The public should not be misled by false rumours depreciating our naval achievement. The Japanese Fleet was indeed beaten, routed and broken.”

Mr. Forrestal acknowledged that United States naval forces in the Philippines had suffered some damage, the announcement of which had been delayed because he did not wish the Japanese to know what ships were hit, the extent of the damage, and how soon they would be back in action. This was a necessary silence and left the field clear for the Japanese to make fantastic claims. Perhaps they were fishing for information. Perhaps the best way to assess the results of the -Japanese air attacks against our fleets since the second battle of the Philippines is to ask whether those attacks disrupted our plans for future action,” continued' Mr. Forrestal. “The answer is m the negative. Leyte’s fall and the Mindoro landings are a concrete demonstration they have not disrupted our naval plans.” Reviewing recent months in the Pacific war Mr. Forrestal said: “Having driven the Japanese Fleet from the Philippines area the United States Navy, in phases of the campaign since October . 25, has been pitted not against enemy naval forces primarily, but against enemy land-based air forces. We have succeeded in this latter phase of the naval campaign for the Philippines just as we succeeded in the second battle of the Philippine Sea. In spite of all the Japanese have been able to do, both with their navy and land-based aircraft, we, and not they, are winning the campaign for the Philippines. We now dominate the waters around these islands and the air over them.” U.S.A. ADMIRAL DEAD

(Rec. 10.30 a.m.) NEW YORK, December 27. The death has occurred of RearAdmiral Small, Commander of the task force in the South-west Pacific and the U.S.S. Salt Lake City. He took a major part in the actions at Tarawa, Maloelap, Palau Yap, and elsewhere. He was one of Admiral Nimitz’s closest advisers. His ship m one battle off Guadalcanal, sank two heavy cruisers, a light cruiser, a destroyer, and an auxiliary. MacARTHUR’S RANK. LONDON, December 27. General MacArthur yesterday wore for the first time the five stars of his new rank, that of general of the army, equivalent to that of a British field-marshal. As regulation . stars were not available the additional stars required for General MacArthur’s uniform were fashioned from an Australian florin and a Dutch coin as a tribute to the Allied nations. j