AMERICAN GAINS

Grey River Argus, 17 March 1945, Page 5

AMERICAN GAINS

IN PHILIPPINES And on Iwo Jima [Aust. & N.Z. Press Association.] (Received March 16, 10.5 p.m.). WASHINGTON, March 15. Gene:«il MacArthur’s latest communique stated: Our 11th Airborne Division, pushing into the eastern Batangas province from the north, has reached Santo Tomas and Tanauan. Our 158th Regiment, clearing the shores of Batangas Bay on the south coast, destroyed a' concentration of enemy barges, and also dispersed enemy elements attempting to land at 8010. Our 6th and 43rd Divisions continued to advance in the AntipoloWawa sector, and are approaching Teresa'. The railways" from Lingayan Gulf to Manila Bay are now operating. On Mindanao Island our 31st Division captured Pasananca, northward of Zamboanga', in the face of increasing resistance, and reached San Ramon and Manichan, thereby controlling 28 miles of the coastline, and an additional 15 villages. Our heavy bombers, in attacks on Formosa direcV_L.hit the Jitsugetsu hydro-electric - "plant, and bombed a number of towns northward of Tainan. Our patrol planes sank a coastal freighter, and damaged three others off Okinawa Island. Our air patrols over the China Sea sank a destroyer, a. ,5000-ton tanker, and four small freighters. A communique from Admiral Nimitz’s headquarters stated: Our sth Marine Division on Thursday continued to reduce further the area held by the enemy at the northern tip of Iwo Jima. Our forces encountered intense small-arms and mortar fire in that sector all day. Mopping up operations were continued in the 3rd and 4th Marine Divisions’ zones. Army and Navy planes attacked Chichi J'ima and Wake Island.