HEAVY MASS RAIDS

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 20826, 3 July 1942, Page 3

HEAVY MASS RAIDS

ALLIED BOMBERS LONG HOP TO CELEBES DESTRUCTION OF PLANES (By Telegraph—Press Assn. —Copyright.) (Special Australian Correspondent.) (10.30 a.m.) SYDNEY, July 3. A heavy long-distance raid, involving flights of over 1800 miles, was. made when Allied bombers attacked an airfield at Kendari, in the Celebes, in fading light on Tuesday afternoon. Tons of high explosive and incendiary bombs were dropped, considerable damage being done to buildings and among enemy planes dispersed on the ground. All our planes returned safely. Kendari, in the south-east Celebes, is an important enemy air base. It was reconnoitred by an Allied aircraft on June 24. Tuesday’s raid was a sequel to this reconnaissance. The attacking bombers had to fly over great stretches of ocean, including the Timor Sea and Flores Sea, over Timor itself and over other Jap-anese-occupied islands, stretching eastward from the Netherlands East Indies. No official information is given of the type of bomber making the raid, but it is believed that either “Flying Fortresses” or Liberators were used. Low-Level Assaults Darwin, 900 miles away, is the nearest Allied air base to Kendari. The raid on Kendari was launched in conjunction with large-scale attacks on other enemy-occupied bases at Dilh, m Timor and Lae and Salamaua, in New Guinea, .and Tulagi arid Bougainville in the Solomons. These are probably the heaviest mass raids yet undertaken by the Allied air forces in the southwest Pacific. All the aircraft raiding Kendari arrived over the target area together, but each plane made a separate run. Despite the fading light, the attacks were pressed home at low level and it is claimed that many enemy aircraft, both bombers and fighters, were destroyed on the ground. Incendiary bombs followed the high explosive bombs. “Enemy aircraft were everywhere on the drome,” said the officer who commanded the planes. “I personally saw bombs hit one of many groups and incendiary bombs were starting fires everywhere.” Buildings of considerable size also reecived direct hits from bombs. It is understood that the attacking force did not encounter fighter opposition. At Dilli fires were started in the wharf area by other raiding Allied bombers. , , At Lae bad visibility prevented accurate observation, but barracks, aircraft dispersal areas and shipping were targets for heavy bombing. Large fires were started at Salumaua where explosions were seen near the jetty. An anti-aircraft gun was silenced. Lighter raids were made on Tulagi and Bougainville.