KWAJALEIN DEFENCES

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 79, 9 February 1944, Page 5

KWAJALEIN DEFENCES

MARINES ENCOUNTER ANCIENT GUNS JAPS’ TRUMP CARD IN GILBERTS New York, Feb. 8. There is no indication at Kwajalein that Japanese defences will grow stronger as the Americans penetrate further into the Nipponese Empire, says the Associated Press of America. Comparison between Kwajalein and Tarawa supports the theory that the Americans encountered the best the Japanese possess at Tarawa. Kwajalein defences, if anything, are inferior to Tarawa, although the Japanese have been building them for 20 years, whereas Tarawa was captured and fortified since the beginning of the war. Marines at Tarawa encountered eight-inch coastal guns and a variety of smaller weapons, whereas the largest guns captured on Kwajalein are ancient high-wheeled guns similar to those used in the 1905 RussianJapanese war with sighting arrangements comparable with American civil war guns. So far, Kwajalein has not produced a single thing the Americans have not met and conquered before. ONLY SLIGHT OPPOSITION NOW The United Press of America correspondent on Kwajalein says the Japanese now have troops and defences on only three of the 93 islands comprising the atoll. Garrisons on these three are so light that they will be mopped up at the convenience of small patrols. U.S. AND ENEMY CASUALTIES Over 8000 Japanese were killed in the Kwajalein atoll fighting. A Pacific Fleet communique says the following details regarding casualties on Kwajalein atoll have been compiled from reports received by last evening: In the southern attack force which captured Kwajalein Island and adjacent objectives, our dead number 157, wounded 712 and missing 17. In the same area enemy dead number 4650 and prisoners 173. In the northern attack force which captured Roi, Namur, and adjacent objectives our dead are 129. wounded 436 and missing 65. In the same area enemy dead number 3472 and prisoners 91. Final figures are expected to vary only slightly from t,he above.