JAP. MUBO BASE

Grey River Argus, 18 May 1943, Page 5

JAP. MUBO BASE

Attempt to Break Allied

Siege ATTACKS AUSTRALIANS AT BOBDUBI. (Special to N.Z. Press Assn.) (Rec. 5.5.) SYDNEY, May 16. Japanese land forces on Saturday attempted to break an Allied siege on Mubo. the mam enemy defence outpost in New Guinea. Raids by strong formations of bombers. aivebombers and fighters were made to cover ground attacks aimed at (as lodging the Australians from then Bobdubi positions astride the supply trails linking Mubo, Komiatum and Salamaua. Supported by strong mortar tire, Japanese troops attacked in some force in the Bobdubi bridge area, but they paid heavily for the little ground they gained. It is estimated that sixty Japanese were killed and many more wounded. • Latest reports state that the Australians are counter-attacking, and a see-saw battle is in progress. Enemy dive-bombing was concenrated on Kunda or Bobdubi bridge, a rough structure over a swift-flowing river, and Francisco bridge, south-west of Bobdubi village, and on our troop positions in the area. Most of the bombs exploded -harmlessly in the jungle, and Australian casualties are reported officially to be “very slight.” Australian patrols from Bobdubi have been playing havoc with Japanese supply columns, and the enemy’s combined land and air attacks represent a very serious effort to drive the Australians out of the Bobdubi area. However, there is no indication at present that Japanese activity presages anything more than an attempt to remove the threat to their Mubo supply line.

SUPPLIES BY AIR CURTAILED. (Rec. 9.50) SYDNEY, May 17. Flying conditions over New Guinea have' been generally adverse m recent weeks. This enforces a limiting factor on Australian ground activity in the Mubo area. For tne time being Allied movement is limited by the number of men who can oe maintained there with supplies and equipment. Under reasonable flying conditions a fair force can be maintained, but when the weather closes down over the ranges the passage of supplies is heavily reduced and reserves dwindle, quickly. SYDNEY. May 13. The latest scene of the fighting in the rugged Mubo Gorge country- of Northern New Guinea is Vickers Ridge, a 3000 foot rise opposite the Mubo landing strip. In the _ newest clash severe casualties were inflicted on the Japanese who made a strong attack on th e Australian positions. The Australians counter-attacked and broke through the enemv resistance! to re-establish contact with a pocket which had been isolated in the earlier fighting. The action at Bel Emed lasted some, time. Vickers Ridge is at the junction of the MuboSalamaua trail and that to Duali on the coast. It is about a mile south of Greens Hill where fighting was reported last week. The Japanese are reported to have reinforced their Mubo garrison with troops of good physique. Heavier skirmishing in the area is likely.

The introduction of what is known as the “Av away” system enabled rapid building' construction in the forward areas of New Guinea. The buildings, so erected are designed at base camps, and all the wooden materials are cut and numbered. They are then packed into transport aircraft and flown to forward areas. All the materials from beams to nails are carefullv calculated. Under favourable conditions a single aircraft transported up to 35,0001bs of prepared material in a dav Work was begun by the R.A.A.F. Squadron

soon after the mobile works unit in New Guinea last October. Early this year, American Air Corps engineers began the development of the scheme and gave it the name “fly away.” High pressure work includes building a mess hall for 600 men within ten days of the time plans were begun. Five plane loads of prepared timber and three of iron and cement were transported to the forward area, where the building was erected.

A rush order for a large hut at a point more than 150 miles from the base was received on Monday. The building was ready for occupation on Wednesday night. More and more New Guinea timbers are being used for the work, and as sawmilling development continues, importation from the Australian mainland will be discontinued. This will save much valuable shipping space.

Pacific Strategy CORRESPONDENT’S SURVEY. SYDNEY, May 12.

“The defended locality phase oi the war in the Pacific is definitely over. We no longer need to look on if simply) as a v business of hanging on to important island groups, hoping tor the best—that the Japanese will over-reach themselves or founder in a typhoon.” This comment on the changing expanding shape of the Pacific struggle was made by an Australian _ war correspondent with wide experience in both thq South and South-west Pacific area.

“Henceforth,” he adds, “the whole of Oceania generally and New Guinea —the Solomons sector particularly—must be considered for all practical purposes, one single indivisible operational area.” Two clearly defined zones of control, one Japanese and the other American, now exist in the Pacific, each being organised and powerfully equipped with the tools of war. Both sides are systematically consolidating their positions. The latest evidence of Allied moves in this direction was the announcement of the American occupation of Funafuti, an administrative centre of the remote Ellice Islands, one of the loneliest spots in the entire- Pacific. It is importantly situated about 450 miles from Canton Island and is an equal distance from Samoa, and is within heavy bomber range of the Japanese-occupied Nauru, Gilbert and Marshall- Islands. Similar action in the Far Northern Pacific, the American occupation of Amchitka is seen as having an aggressive purpose In the struggle for the Aleutians, wffiich have been described -as the Achilles heel of the American defence.

This progressively constrictive movement towards the Japanese base of Kiska is regarded as of great importance in the wider Pacific strategy. “It shows,” writes the “Sydney Morning Herald’s” military correspondent, “that the Americans are steadily consolidating one of their main avenues to the Japanese mainland from which they are now only a thousand miles distant. “In the Southern Pacific, war must eventually centre around the key Japanese stronghold of Rabaul. This will be the main base' for an enemy move against Allied-occupiied New Guinea or the Northern Solomons areas. Similarly offensive action b'y Allied forces based on New Guinea or the Solomons must be aimed ultimately against Rabaul. “Thus the Pacific war has ceased to be a series of mere jungle campaigns,” sums up the Australian war correspondent. * “It is now a. sea-land-air affair, of which Guadalcanal’ will prove to be far more typical than the slogging battle in mud for Buna. It correlated the all-island, all-ocean, and every-sky affair, in which, such terms as' 'South Pacific area’ and ‘South-west Pacific area’ are becoming mere administrative labels without strategic significance.”