HEAVIEST RAID

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21142, 9 July 1943, Page 3

HEAVIEST RAID

ASSAULT ON MUBO 106 TONS OF BOMBS IMPORTANT HILL TAKEN (By Teleprraph—Press Assn.—Copyright.) (Special Australian Correspondent.) (10.30 a.m.) SYDNEY, July 9. Making the heaviest raid on a land target ever executed in the southwest Pacific, more than 50 Allied uombers and attack planes on Wednesday pounded Japanese positions in the Mubo area of northern New Guinea with 106 tons of high explosive and fragmentation bombs in less than 45 minutes. The Australian land forces which pushed forward after this record aerial bombardment captured Observation Hill, an important strategic point almost directly north of Mubo. Other clashes between the opposing ground forces occurred in the Bobdubi area.

Mitchells, Bostons and Liberators sent their bombs crashing on to enemypositions in seven sweeps over the target area. The attacks were made in direct support of our ground troops. The only air action in which a greater number of planes has been used in the south-west Pacific area was the Bismarck Sea battle. In addition to the attacks in the Mubo area, General MacArthur’s communique reports that Bostons strafed enemy positions on Bobdubi ridge. Mitchells bombed and strafed installations in Labu Lagoon, in the. Lae sector) The south-west Pacific headquarters announced amended figures for the fifty-eighth Japanese raid on Darwin made on Tuesday. It is now reported that 10 enemy bombers and two fighters were destroyed and one bomber and three fighters were damaged.