BACK IN BATAAN

Grey River Argus, 16 February 1945, Page 5

BACK IN BATAAN

AMERICAN FORCES Manila Ring Closing on Enemy (Roc. 7.45). WASHINGTON, Feb. 14. “We gradually are compressing the circle on the trapped enemy garrison in Mania,” says General MacArthur’s latest communique. “Our 40th Division captured a great quantity of supplies in Zambales foothills, after inflicting heavy casualties. Patrols from our 6th and 25th Divisions are probing deep in the southern Caraballo Mountains, where additional large stores of enemy equipment, including four tanks, were found abandoned. Our 11th Corps has cleaned the entire length of the Olongapo-Dinaluphan road across Bataan Peninsula, and has advanced 11 miles southward, seizing Abubcay, which was the eastern anchor of our first defence line in the 1942 campaign. Our heavy bombers bombed coastal batteries on Corregidor and fighters swept the east coast of Bataan; destroying 24 supply barges. Our naval patrol craft at night destroyed a small freighter and two barges, and engaged enemy concentrations on the shore of Cebu Island. Aerial operations have been continued against Mindanao, Formosa, the Indo-Chinese coast, Celebes, Halmahera, and the Lesser Sundas. Heavy, medium and fighter bombers on successive days dropped 70 tons in army co-operation attacks against targets near Wewak and Marienburg on the lower Sepik River, New Guinea. Medium and fighter bombers dropped 26 tons on Kavieng and Rabaul personnel areas. Fighter bombers supported our ground forces operating in eastern Bougainville.” STUBBORN JAP RESISTANCE. (Rec. 7.45). NEW YORK, Feb. 14. Hones of a relatively rapid cleaning up of southern Manila have faded. This is because of a stubborn resistance being put up by the Japanese, who are entrenched in the residential Ta'ft Avenue, one mile from the waterfront, says an Associated Press correspondent. Americans captured a Masonic temple. Enemy artillery fire has diminished sharply. Their mortar ammunition apparently is exhausted. Americans met only automatic and small-arms fire in house-to-house fighting. Some Japanese even attacked them with smoke grenades. A United Press correspondent says: Three of Manila’s four largest cigar factories have been destroyed by, bombs and fires during street fighting. The Japanese resistance is showing signs of crumbling. The enemy remnants are trapped in an area of four square miles along Manila' Bay. The remaining enemy pockets in southern half of the city are expected to b e cleared up in a few days. The Japanese are still holding Fort McKinley, near the Neilson airfield, which' Americans are heavily shell-

mg. Army liberators bombed installations on Iwojima and Hahajima on Wednesday, says a Pacific Fleet communique. The results were not observed. Fighters attacked Koror and Arakabesan on the Falaus, starting a fire at Koror. Marine planes attacked Yap through intense flak, destroying two buildings. GRIM HOUSE-TO-HOUSE FIGHTING WASHINGTON, Feb. 14. U.S. Army photographers at Manila are documenting some Japanese atrocity incidents, says an Associated Press correspondent. Meanwhile enemy artillery fire is markedly decreasing, largely because . American guns are concentrating upon the system of connecting fortresses in the old walled city, Intramuoros, and the adjacent dock area, where a tiring enemy forces have been battling day and night for more' than a week. The Japanese in south Manila are now crowded into a sector 5000 yards long from tre Pasig River southward to Harrison Field, and 2000 yards inland from the bay front. The Japanese have taken a terrible beating in this small area, but dirty house-to-house fighting is still progressing. TORPEDOING OF U.S. CARRIER. (Rec. 10.40). NEW YORK, Feb. 14. Captain Young revealed that fewer than one' hundred men were lost when his escort-carrier, the “Ommaney Bay”, as cabled yesterday, was sunk during the Lingayen Gulf landing. The vessel was torpedoed after being severely damaged by bombs from Japanese planes. Captain Young said there was a big job in rescuing wounded, as the vessel was ablaze, and the liferafts were all burned. Accompanying destroyers could not get close in. T'he badly wounded were placed in cots attached to four or five kapok life-jackets, lowered into the water, and each guarded by three or four men. Ships in the formation picked up survivors. No lives were lost in the water. The wounded could not be sent back to base. They went through the entire scheduled operations.

JAPANESE ANTICIPATIONS. (Rec. 7.45). NEW YORK, Feb. 14. “American gains on Luzon Island have been of no strategic importance,” said a spokesman for the Japanese Fleet, broadcasting on Tokio radio. “The Americans are likely to take another, gamble, either to invade straight through to Japan, or to land in China, or to land in IndoChina or in Malaya. < A landing on the China coast looks the easiest to them, but we must make them understand before then that the Japanese Fleet, in China waters, will be only too glad to grapple with them, thus imposing the heaviest defeat.” Tokio radio says: Superfortresses on Wednesday fled southward, after flying over the C'huseinando province, on the south-west coast of Korea. RUSSIA TO FIGHT IN PACIFIC. JAPANESE EXPECTATION. (Rec. 11.50). NEW YORK, Feb. 15. Implying that Russia would join in the Pacific, Tokio radio asserted: The San Francisco conference will be for the purpose of denouncing Japan a's a common enemy of the Allies. War against Germany will be transformed into war against Japan. An earlier

broadcast declared the conference was scheduled as the result of an American desire to make Japan the common enemy of the anti-Axis Powers. CANADIAN UNITS TO JOIN PACIFIC FLEET OTTAWA, February 14.. The Canadian cruiser “Uganda” will shortly see action with the British Pacific Fleet. The second cruiser “Ontario” which is at present being built at Belfast will also go to the Pacific. This has been announced by the Navy Minister, Mr MacDonald. He hoped Canada would acquire two light aircraft-carriers which were being built in Britain, these together with four tribal class destroyers which Canada' is building, and other Canadian naval units will probably go to the Pacific also. Mr. MacDonald said, the Canadian Navy’s Pacific effort was not likely to be as large as her Atlantic effort, but it would be more than a token force.