DEADLY BOMBING

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 21756, 4 July 1945, Page 6

DEADLY BOMBING

BOUGAINVILLE BATTLE N.Z. CORSAIRS’ WORK JAPS’ TIME RUNNING OUT (R.N.Z.A.F. Official News Service) BOUGAINVILLE, uJne 26. The battle for south Bougainville, where the main action in the northern Solomons campaign is steadily moving toward a decisive stage, is iargely a battle of rivers, with the Japanese bitterly contesting every strategic crossing. The Australian troops are now poised at the Mobiai fords, about 10 miles from the Siliba; River, the last natural barrier shielding the enemy’s centre of strength around the Kara and Kahili air strips and generally known as the Buin area.

Since his. organised defence lines were crushed at the Puriate and Hongorai Rivers the enemy has been thrown off balance by the speed oi the Australian advance and unable to prepare strong fortifications or bring up reserves. He is fighting desperate blocking actions in pockets of 50 tc 500. but these cannot stand againsl the merciless pounding by New Zealand Corsairs and Australian artillery, which herald the advance of'the ground troops and tanks. Enemy’s Line Crumbles

The past week has seen the Australians and New Zealanders employ these tactics with brilliant success to outwit and uproot stubborn defences at the Hari River. While a massive air bombardment, in which Corsairs alone flew 324 bombing sorties, laic waste strongpoints across the river, a bold Australian outflanking move threatened the Japanese from the rear and their Hari fine crumbled. The Australians swept rapidly on past the Ogorata River to the Mobiai where the same softening-up programme is being employed againstwo concentrations endeavouring tc hold the fords. Past the Mobia' comes the Mivo River, where another determined stand is expected. Scenes of Utter Desolation ' Every yard of the advance discloses more and more evidence of the devastating effects of the Corsairs bombing. The Buin road, along which the Australians are advancing ■s itself not broken by craters, but the jungle on both sides, where the enemy once held positions, is gouged and battered. The grimmest example are Egans and Hari Ridges, two of the most heavily bombed spots on Bougainville. Both are scenes of complete desolation. The enemy has no escape. All he can hope to do is to delay his fate If he scatters to the hills Australian commandos, Papuan scouts and native ■uerillas are there to finish him off *lf lie tries to flee by barge to outlying islands he has to run the gauntlet c the R.N.Z.A.F. If he bands into a small area for a last desperate stanc he faces certain destruction. It : only a matter of time, and time fo) the Japanese on Bougainville is runaing out.