U.S. DOUBLE RAID

Grey River Argus, 22 August 1944, Page 2

U.S. DOUBLE RAID

INDUSTRIES IN JAPAN Hit with Record Bomb Load (Rec. 10.10) WASHINGTON, Aug. 21. The U.S. Twentieth Air Force, in a communique, says: Two forces of Super-Fortresses on Sunday struck at vital Japanese war industries in the Yawata-Kyushu area by co-ordin-ated day and night attacks, The initial attack was the first daylight operation against the Japanese homeland since the Tokio radio led by General Doolittle on April 18, 1942. In the second assault on Sunday night a smaller force did the bombing and reported that Japanese fighter plane opposition was encountered. The flak was from moderate to intense, and it was accurate. Four of the bombers were reported lost through enemy action. Twelve enemy fighters are claimed to have been destroyed, and twelve to have probably been destroyed, and ten damaged. Operational details of the night mission are not yet available. (Rec. 10.50) NEW YORK, Aug. 21. A correspondent of the American United Press Agency at a secret 829 base in western China says: .SuperFortresses struck at Yawata with the heaviest bomb load ever hurled against a single target in the China-Burma-India war theatre. A strong formation in daylight rained many tons of high explosives against -. this industrial centre, which is producing 21 per cent, of Japan’s steel. Flames from the attack were still blazing through the workshops when the second formation unloaded another avalanche of destruction against Yawata. .For the first time in the SuperFortresses’ mission, the Japanese sent up swarms of fighter’ planes against the raiders. The Japanese also threw up a flak barrage, which the returning crews described .as the heaviest that has been seen in this theatre. The daylight attack was carried out in perfect conditions and in excellent visibility. Tons of bombs crashed in the centre of the target area, startin" huge fires. As many as 15 Japanese aircraft of varied type were thrown against single formations of Super-Fortresses. Enemy planes attempted to bore in from all directions. The Super-Fortresses’ heavy armament and high speed forced most of the attackers to stay out of range. The first bombers over the target found that Japanese planes were unable, in the short period of warning, to reach attack altitude. While the main force smashes Yawata, other Super-For-tresses blasted Laoyao, terminal port of the Lunghai railway, and one of the most important Japanese shipping centres. Raiders also hit Kaifeng junction on the Peiping-Han-kow-Lungai railway near a bend, where the Chinese diverted the Yellow River in 1938 to halt the Japanese advance.

(Rec. 8 p.m.) NEW YORK, Aug. 20. Tokio official radio stated: American bombers raided the Kyushu and the western Choguku district in Japan twice on Sunday. The first raid was at 5 p.m. Then about midnight, some twenty planes from the American Air Force in China again raided northern Kyushu and the western Choguku district for about half an hour. Our losses were negligible.