JAP AIR BASES HIT

Grey River Argus, 12 September 1944, Page 5

JAP AIR BASES HIT

In Celebes and Other Islands BY MACARTHUR'S BOMBERS (Rec. 9.55) SYDNEY, Sept. 11 Allied air attacks on important Japanese bases in the Southern Phil-, lipines, Celebes, and the Moluccas are increasing in size and frequency. Tokio radio has again expressed fear that an Allied invasion of the Phillipines is imminent. Coincidental with this warning, General MacArthur’s bombers on Friday made their heavies raid on targets in northern Celebes, which forms one of Japan’s main eastern Pacific defences. They pounded the Langoan airfield, prepared by Japanese to provide air cover for their shipping in sea lanes of the southern Phillipines. The attack followed Thursday’s record raid on Manado, a big enemy transhipping centre in northern Celebes, when warehouses and dock areas were smashed with 150 tons of bombs. In six days Allied bombers have delivered more than five hundred tons of explosives on Celebes targets. Liberator formations made Friday’s raid. They destroyed three parked twin-engined planes, also cratering runways and blowing up buildings and fuel dumps. Escorting Lightnings encountered no Japanese fighter opposition. United States Navy Catalina flying boats patrolling shiping routes in the southern Phulipines waters on Friday night, secured their biggest prey in weeks, when they sank a ten-thousand ton tanker. The ship was hugging a coast line near Zamboanga (Mindanao). She was left blazing and settling in tne water after several direct nits.

Four aerial strikes were made on Friday against Halmahera Island, midway between New Guinea and the Phillippines. ■ Airfields, shipping ana storage areas were the targets. The Kai Islands a possible escape haven for Japanese Second Army troops, who are attempting to breaK out of the Allied trap in Dutch New Guinea, has also been raided the objectives being four airfields. Five parked planes were destroyed. U.S. COMMANDER REMOVED WASHINGTON, Sept. 9 Lieut-General Holland Smith,, commanding the general operations on Saipan Islands told a press conference that unfortunately, circumstances forced him to relieve Major-Gen-eral Ralph Smith from the post of commander of the ground forces on Saipan. Lt. Gen. Smith declined to elaborate. He ’referred the correspondents to the war department. However, the. Department declined to comment. ) ... The Associated Press states. — Military circles in Washington say General Holland Smith, who is a marine, and General Ralph Smith, who is an army, general, disagreed over methods of conducting the campaign. General Holland Smith favoured quick hard drives to end the operations .as quickly as possible General Ralph Smith advocated a slow and more. cautious campaign.