BURMA FRONT

Grey River Argus, 20 January 1943, Page 5

BURMA FRONT

ALLIES TAKE A HILL. LONDON, Jan. 18. A report from India stated tfiat Allied troops operating in Burma have captured another strategic hill near Akyab and are now lighting tor a third. The Royal Air Force on Sunday concentrated most of its attacks on the village of Rathedaung, which lies in the path of the Allied advance on Akyab. Aircraft were over Rathedaung three times, and good results were obtained with bombs and ma-chine-gun. fire. Elsewhere in Burma river craft were attacked and damaged. The airfield at Toungoo was raided, bombs falling on runways and dispersal areas. The Royal Air rorce suffered no loss. . The official report stated: Blenheim bomliers escorted by Hurricanes cooperated closelj' with ground forces m Mayu Peninsula, and successfully attacked enemy targets on Akyab Island. Some fires were started, and lhe escorting Plurricanes made lowlevel machine-gun attacks. Several light A.A. guns were silenced. In addition, offensive sweeps were carried out by our fighters against a variety of targets .including rivercraft trains, enemy-occupied buildings, and coastal shipping. Considerable success was achieved m these attacks. From these and othqr operations, none of our aircraft is missing. A further Indian communique states: This morning a force of enemy bombers escorted bv fighters, attacked an airfield in the - Chittagong (India) area. Preliminary reports indicate that the casualties were few, and the damage slight. One enemj' aircraft vias destroyed and several damaged. We lost one aircraft.