ENEMY AT VILA

Manawatu Standard, Volume LXIII, Issue 236, 3 September 1943, Page 5

ENEMY AT VILA

SHELLED BY ALLIES LAST BIG SOLOMONS BASE (N.Z. Press Association.—Copyright.) (Rec. 12.15 p.m.) SYDNEY, Sept. 3. Heavy artillery in Northern New Georgia has been used for the first time to "soften up" the last important Central Solomons Japanese base at Vila, on Kolombangara Island. The shelling followed a raid on Vila by Mitchell bombers.

The position of the Japanese garrison was already perilous from the supply point of view before the American landing on Arundel Island. The Allied naval and air attacks have made the sea so dangerous for the Japanese shipping that the enemy has been forced to rely mainly on barges to send his supplies south of Rabaul. While the blockade of the Solomons is not yet complete, the Allies are taking heavy toll of enemy barge traffic. Warhawk fighters on Tuesday shot down five Japanese aircraft and probably destroyed two others of a force of about 18 which were attacking Allied shipping near Vella Lavella. NEW JAPANESE PLANE.

The Japanese are using a new fighter in .the Solomons known as Type 3, which is radically different from the flimsy air-cooled radialpowered Zero. It has a liquid-cooled engine, giving greater power and speed, and is more heavily armed. Type 3 is the first Japanese plane with self-sealing fuel tanks. The workmanship is excellent and there is no indication that the Japanese are short of special metals. It is the enemy's first new fighter in three years. There has been only one modification of the Zero since it was first designed.":