FIGHT OVER

Grey River Argus, 25 January 1943, Page 5

FIGHT OVER

AT SANANANDA ENEMY WIPED OUT Not Many Prisoners LOSS OF 1,500 MEN IN AREA. [Special to N.Z. Press Assn]. (Rec. 7.30.) SYDNEY, Jan. 24. All orfganised Japanese opposition in Papua has been smashed. The . land fighting in the area has now ceased. The last three pockets of resistance around Sanananda wer wiped out on Friday and mopping up operations were completed on Saturday. The number of enemy killed in the final week’s fighting is believed to have been at least one thousand. More than one hundred Japanese were taken priosner. Considerable equipment, including field guns and trucks and ammunition has failed into Allied hands. The last of the Japanese in the Papuan beachhead fortress area continued thir suicide stand and they were killed, or wounded, almost to a man. Heavy mortar and machine-gun fire opend Friday’s final Allied assaults, and within six hours the en- ■ emv’s resistance had been crushed. The Sanananda area had more artillery weapons and more stoutly-con-structed defences than any other enemy position that was encountered in Papua. Th e Allies’ first large-scale attacks against Sanananda were launched, following the fall of the Buna Mission on January 2. In the largest pocket of resistance, more than five hundred Japanese dead have been counted. The bodies of many aJpanese snipers were found lashed to trees ' The Sydney “Sunday Sun” war correspondent, Mr F. C. Folkard, places the number of enemy killed in the fighting around Sanananaa at fifteen hundred, but, he says, that in addition, deaths of Japanese from tropical diseases have been numerous. OVER 700 JAPS KILLED THE LAST STAGES. ' SYDNEY, Jan 23. Allied troops now control the , whole of Papua, according to General MacArthur’s latest communique. This reported that all remaining Japanese resistance in the Sanananda area has been overcome and mopping up is in progress. More than seven hundred Japanese were killed in the last stages of the fighting, and a considerable quantity of material and equipment was captured, including guns, trucks and ammunition. LESSONS OF PAPUAN CAMPAIGN. 1 i (Rec. 8.40.) SYDNEY, Jan. 24. Summarising offensive lessons 1 learned by the Allies in the Papuan 1 land fighting, a Sydney “Sunday Sun” ’ war correspondent savs that these 1 have included the following:—(1) The / need for the training of special anti- ) sniping, units, who later proved high- . ly effective against the Japanese tree-top “pests.” (2) The value of i close support from light artillery, • which could be equipped with skids, for movement along muddy jungle ■ tracks. (3) A. greater use of incen- ■ dierv weapons against wooden pillboxes. The Japanese weaknesses which were revealed during the campaign included: —(1) A blind faith in fixed defences, combined with a tendency to panic when caught in the open—although the Japanese troops would always die rather than surrender. (2) The enemy’s equipment, particularly his rifles and grenades, deteriorated in the humid tropical climate. (3) Enemy communication services l freauently broke down, leaving garrisons short of ammunition. (4) The enemy artillery was inadequate, and their intelligence service was poor. Japs in Jungle ONLY ONES LEFT IN PAPUA. (Rec. 7.40.) SYDNEY, Jan. 24. The only Japanese now remaining in Papua are the refugee bands that are hiding in the jungles and swamps. The strongest (of these bands is thought to be established in the delta area of the Mambare River, which is forty-two. miles north-west of Buna. An enemy landing attempt was made in this area on December 14. Only a comparatively small number of the troops whom the Japanese there landed have survived the Allied air attacks, and the delta recently has been heavily strafed by Allied attack ’planes. MORE U.S. TROOPS NEEDED TO FIGHT JAPAN. SYDNEY. Jan. 23. “The Washington Post” alleges that some of Marshal Chiang Kai-shek’s associates hald the view that Britain and America, if exhausted by the conflict with Hitler, might be prone tu negotiate “for peace” with Japan in which the main loser would be China'. Constantine Brown, the Washington “Star” columnist, states that General MacArthur, as well as admiral Halsey has received recent reinforcements, but that these are merely sufficient for a continuation of tne “offensive defensive” strategy which presumably will continue until the Axis is smashed in Europe. The entire Hearst press increasingly condemns the “get Hitler first” policy and champions the cause ot more arms for China. The Hearst papers declare that in the Pacific the United States forces are so thinly spread that they are unable to move more than an meh ahead against Japan when they should be able to drive forward. “The administration must realise that America’s own existence is now at stake m tne Pacific.” urges one featured article, which claims that Japans strength is still being underestimated. Meantime American war observers are awaiting news of one of the South Pacific’s “characteristically brief but brilliant” flareups. Further Japanese' attacks on the Americanheld Solomons are being generally prophesied. ON GUADALCANAR. WASHINGTON. Jan. 22. The U.S. Navy reports: United States ground forces at. Guadalcanar continued mopping up pockets of enemy resistance, and made small advances in some sectors. U.S. AIR RAIDS WASHINGTON, Jan. 22. A Navy communique states that during the night of January 20-21. United States aircraft carried out several harassing attacks on enemyinstallations' on Ballale Island, but the results were not observed