Predict Terrible Saipan Campaign

Northern Advocate, 28 June 1944, Page 3

Predict Terrible Saipan Campaign

(Rec. 11.30 a.m.) NEW YORK, June 27. Saipan threatens to develop into a terrible campaign of blood-letting with fighting in the streets, houses, mountains, forests and canefields and the combing of the worst terrain features of all the Pacific battle fronts, says a combined American Press correspondent aboard the flagship off Saipan. The Japanese still hold about half Saipan, giving both forces manoeuvring room. Our line roughly cuts inland to the centre, indicating Japanese defence in depth and possibly presaging . a bloodier battle than that of the first fortnight. The Americans hold complete sea and air superiority, but the enemy is still making light night raids. A correspondent of the United Press says that alert army troops who spotted Japanese soldiers moving machine-guns and 20 millimetre guns from an area of defence under brush, drove off the enemy and captured a highly important ammunition dump in a cave 100 feet long and 30 feet wide, in which they found bombs up to 5000 lbs. ,also grenades, land mines, rifle and machine-gun ammunition.

. Tokio official radio announced that 170 enemy planes raided Guam yeslerday. Damage was negligible. It is claimed that 10 were shot down.