AUSTRALIAN ADVANCE

Grey River Argus, 13 May 1944, Page 5

AUSTRALIAN ADVANCE

IN BRITISH NEW GUINEA Final Fight in Admiralty Isles (Special to N.Z. Press Assn). (Rec. 10.5) SYDNEY, May 12. Australian infantry units in Britisn New Guinea are nearing Cape croiselles, sixteen miles north of Aiexishafen, and twenty-four miles no ““ of Madang. They have haa no contact with enemy forces. It (S apparent that Japanese m the area axe continuing to withdraw toward H o n t S her ß Australian Parols have been probing inland, and, like those on the coast, have not met ° nfthe Croiselles is the next objective of the Australians’ coastal drl y®- h „ tween flanked by Isumrud st s e hi New Guinea and Karkar Is! and - d J former Japanese stronghold appears to have been abandonee by Jg; according to reports by leconnais Sa A Ce heavy S air attack on Wednesday on the centre of the Japanese concen?£t£n area in British New Guinea was reported by General MacArthur s communique to-day. and bombers were over Wewak on Wednesday in numerous waves, and more than a hundred tons of explosives caused fires in supply areas. Liberators from the Solomons striking against Japanese bases in the Carolines, cratered the concrete runway of the airfield at Woleai. One of the twenty Liberators engaged was lost, when an equal number of enemy fighter planes intercepted. Other Solomons-based bombers again attacked Rabaul in New Britain. It has been announced by General MacArthur’s Headquarters that 10,200 tons of bombs had been unloaded 1 on Ra'baul from November 12 to May 6. Rabaul has been by. far tlie most bombed spot in the Pacific. The latest report from the Admiralty Islands reveals that 3,202 Japanese have been killed and 169 captured. It is believed that the enemy ha's now only a few hundred effective troops left in this group. They are concentrated in the southern portion of Manus Island, where they will soon be compelled to make a ; last stand.

TOJO’S STATEMENT. (Rec. 10.50) NEW YORK, May 12. The Tokio official radio, announced Tojo, Prime Minister, in a special statement on the occasion of Admiral Toga’s funeral, declared that the prevailing situation was now critical, but he expressed his confidence that Admiral Toga’s burning spirit would inspire the hundred millions of the Japanese to complete the destruction of Britain and America.