'DROME CAPTURED

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21400, 10 May 1944, Page 3

'DROME CAPTURED

NEW BRITAIN AREA 150 MILES OFF RABAUL HAVOC AT ENEMY BASE (Special Australian Correspondent.) (10 a.m.) SYDNEY, May 9. The American troops yesterday occupied the airfield at Cape Hoskins on the northern coast of New Britain. They encountered no Japanese, but suffered a few casualties from boobytraps.

Cape Hoskins was once an important enemy air-staging base, but was put out of action by relentless Allied bombing when the invasion moves were made at Arawe and Cape Gloucester this year. Cape Hoskins airfield is within 150 miles of Rabaul, where recent reconnaissance photographs reveal widespread damage. An official estimate lists Rabaul township and-the adjoining installations as 80 to 85 per cent, destroyed, Lakunai airfield and installations 85 per cent, destroyed, Tobera 80 per cent, and Vunakanua and Ropopo 50 per cent. Despite the concentrated bombings, the Japanese for many weeks continued to repair the damaged runways and rebuild the .installations, but lately their persistence has weakened and the repair of the strips has slipped into an irregular routine. Considerably more than 10,000 tons of bombs have been dropped on 10 miles square defence area at Rabaul during the past seven months. In this locality are 40,000 beleaguered troops, the remnants of Japan’s Seventeenth Army.

The sustained air offensive against Rabaul began on December 17. Before this the greatest strike against enemy strength there was on October 12 last when 177 planes and 119 ships, including destroyers, were destroyed at the base within 24 hours. By February 18 Allied warships had been able to shell Rabaul without fear of enemy air interference. The last enemyfighter opposition encountered over the base was three months ago.