BASE FOR INVASION FORCE

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 80, 6 August 1945, Page 5

BASE FOR INVASION FORCE

WHOLE RYUKYU ISLAND CHAIN

MACARTHUR TAKES OVER COMMAND , Washington, August 5. General MacArthur’s headquarters announced that the entire Ryukyu Island chain was placed under General MacArthur’s command as from midnight, 31st July, as the base of a mighty invasion force under General MacArthur’s primary responsibility. A statement said that all army forces in the islands, except the Bth Air Force, were now operating under General MacArthur’s direct control. General Stilwell’s Tenth Army and General Kenny’s Fifth and Seventh Air Forces were now moving up there. These islands, with the Philippines, would form a great semi-circular base from where a mighty invasion force was being forged under General MacArthur’s primary responsibility for the final conquest of Japan. General MacArthur disclosed that the 13th Air Force which in recent months had been the main United States Air Force in the southern Philippines, New Guinea and the Indies, was moving to Ryukyus. The Associated Press of America correspondent says the shift of the 1 3th Air Force means that eight air forces, in addition to carrier planes and Seventh Fleet bombers, will attack the homeland and Japanese in China. The Army Air Forces are the sth, 7th, Bth, I 3th and 20th in the West Pacific, the 1 1 th in the Aleutians, and the 10th and 13th in China.

“The invasion af Japan will be doomed to failure unless the operation is carried out most skilfully and on a large scale,” says radio. “It is calculated that the enemy can employ only 800,000 troops in the first wave and against such an attack Japan can immediately gather a force several times larger regardless of where the landing is attempted on the mainland. ’’ Another commentator said Japan was basing almost her full hope for repelling an invasion on suicide pilots and wooden planes.

The Manila correspondent of the “New York Times” says: “In the last few days the Japanese have suddenly switched against American ships submannes which wer° previously engaged in suoplying the indies garrisons or reconnoitring.”

“Army Liberators yesterday bombea Kataoka naval base. Kokutan Cape, northern Kuriles,” says Admiral Nimitz’s communiaue. “Navy planes today shot down two and damaged twc enemy lighters, sank a small cargo ship in the Taushim? Straits, sank a small cargo ship off Shantung, and attacked smcfll craft in Hangchow bay M General MacArthur’s communique says: “The Third Australian Division on Bougainville is steadily compiessing isolated enemy forces into the northern tip of the island and driving scattered enemy groups in the centre of the island down the Emperor Range on the east coast. New Zealand and Australian marine planes supported ground operations and bombed bivouacs and rear supply installations ‘Adverse weather prevented air attacks on Japan. Seventh Fleet reconnaissance bombers damaged seven freighters off the Malayan Co as:. "Thirteenth Air Force fighters at midday attacked communications in east Java, destroying 37 locomotives in the Sourabaya area. R.A.A.F. heavy units and fighters cratered Sidate and Tanamon airfields in the Celebes, bombed bridges and small craft in the Halmaheras and set on fire harbour facilities at Dilli and the Lesser Sundas. One plane was lost The Associated Press of America Manila correspondent says Lightnings from the Philippines made the Soura- j baya at‘ack. Major General Wurtsmith said this sweep would show the Japanese they were no' safe from our : deadly deck level attacks anywhere in the Indies or Asia. We had developed the long-range fighter into an instrument of destruction that worked as well 1000 miles from its base as ten miles av/ay. He addea that last week’s reconnaissance over Singapore by Lightnings was one of the longest ever flown by firhters. MUSTANGS OVER TOKIO j “Iwo Jima based Mustangs sweeping \ Tokio airfields on Friday shot down two : and damaged one of ten interceptors, J destroyed eight and damaged six • planes on the ground and destroyed i eleven locomotives, three electric loco- j motives, two gun emplacements and a transformer,” says General Spaatz’s communique. POTSDAM LEAFLETS DROPPED ! The 20th Air Force announced that! 3.000.000 leaflets bearing the Potsdam ultimatum have been dropped over a wide area of Japan, including . the cities warned of forthcoming raids PRISONER OF WAR CAMPS DENIAL BT TOKIO Washington, August 4. Tokio radio denied the State Department’s accusation that the Japanese are I attempting to protect target areas by ! placing prisoner of war camps nearby, j The Domei News Agency quoting j well-informed circles, charged the j Americans with indiscriminate bomb- ' mg and added that not a single area | in Japan was safe from bombs. Prisoner of war camps would eventually become targets even if placed on Fujiyama’s summit. NEWSPAPER FROM SKIES New York, August 4. The “Rakkasan Parachute News,” which American airmen are dropping on Japan every Monday morning, will increase in circulation from 1,000,000 a | week to 4.000.000 by August 15, and 8.000.000 by September 15. The newspaper. which is packed in bombs like incendiaries, is a miniature of a typical Japanese daily, and contains an editorial, a cartoon, at least three oiptures. and the equivalent of 1800 Eng- ! lish words, of News. War prisoners I and former Japanese newspaper am 1 j Domei employees assist in the Publica + ion under the supervision of Major ' Michael Mitchell, who worked on J Japanese newspapers for M years be- ! tore 1941. JAPANESESUBMARINES offensive flare-up I PROBABLE New York, Aug. 4. f It wou’d not be surprising if the. long dormant Japanese submarine ! fleet opened an offensive “in despera- i tion.” said an official Navy spokesman. He pointed out that enemy submarines which had scored con’--siderable surreys against warships! and merchant shipping in the early j days of the war. had been lving low! for nearlv two vears. confining their' activities to scouting operations and ronnire to tranoed ga**ri_ I sons and by-passed islands. Now therp wa? little reason for the Japanese to conserve their submarines, since the home islands were them-' sph-ps involved in a fl<?ht for life j The spokesman indicated that \ Japanese submarine f actics did not' compare with the Germans, which; came cio* P to serionslv crinolin? the entire Allied war effort. He refused to divulge how many submarines had

been sunk, but said “We are sinking them regularly.” ALLIED CO-ORDINATION DETAILS BEING PERFECTED London, Aug. 3. The Foreign Office has issued the following statement: “During the Potsdam conference the British and American Chiefs of Staff daily conferred to perfect details of the co-ordination of the British and American forces in accomplishing the total defeat of the Japanese military and naval j forces and Japan’s unconditional | surrender as early as possible. ! “The British will bring to bear j against Japan all their naval, land i and air forces which can advantageI ously be used. The Chiefs of Staff j discussed the reallocation of areas and i commands in tne South-West Pacific and South-East Asia areas. “Consideration was also given to th e employment in the war pgainst Japan of forces of other Allied nations who are at war with Japan. The Prime Minister, Mr Attlee, and President Truman approved the proposals of th e Chiefs of Staff.” i COMMAND CHANGES POSSIBLE President Truman and Mr Attlee have agreed on a co-ordinated plan for the defeat of Japan which might involve major changes in command in the Pacific, says the Associated Press correspondent aboard the cruiser Augusta. Mr Truman .said that from the beginning he had’ resolved to keep the American public fully informed on the tripartite agreements reached. The President is preparing a report whi.ch will be broadcast to the nation shortly after his return to Washington next week. i The Press Association’s military correspondent says that th e question of Russian intervention in th e Far East remains unanswered. The general opinion is that the British and Empire forces would concentrate in the southern sphere of operations with the object of liberating Singapore and the o*her lost possessions, while the Amerisans would deal exclusively with the areas further north.

The establishment of a new British command operating entirely separately from the South-East Asia command was a possibility. I ARMS AND FAKE PATIENTS j DISCOVERY ON JAP HOSPITAL SHIP Manila, Aug. 4. General MacArthur’s headquarters announced that a boarding party found | arms and fake patients aboard a Jap- ! anese hospital ship in the Banda Sea. The ship is being brought to* an Allied port for investigation. The headquarters announced that the ship was clearly marked with Red Crosses on the sides and superstructure, indicating that it carried neither arms nor fighting men. A boarding party from 9 blockading vessels of the United States Seventh Fleet boarded the ship to the north of Timor in a routine investig** on to ensure if the vessel were operating in conformity with international law and the Geneva Convention. They found contraband including 23 heavy ma-chine-guns, 15 light machine-guns, ammunition in boxes marked “medical supplies" and also an undetermined number of 77mm. shells. The boarding party promptly began investigating 1500 supposed patients. They removed bandages from some men and found no wounds. The vessel was manned by 13 officers and 63 men

WAVE DAMAGES CARRiER SURVIVAL FROM ENEMY ATTACKS (Rec. 10.05 a.m.) Washington, Aug. 5. A huge wave 150 miles from Okinawa at 2 a.m. on sth June lifted the United States carrier Hornet’s bow and then dropped it with a tremendous impact which folded down the forward corners of the flightdeck along the hull. The engines stopped and the ship drifted for some hours in a 130-mile-a?--houi gale. The Hornet’s planes from the first action in the Marianas, in March, 1944, to 4th June. 1945. shot down 668 planes, destroyed 742 on the ground, sank a cruiser, carrier, ten destroyers and 42 cargo ships. The crew claims a record for shooting down 255 planes in 30 days. The Hornet was undamaged in 52 days under enemy attack. AVIATION PETROL FROM PINE RESIN (Rec. 11 a.m.) New York, August 5. Tokio radio says two Japanese chemists have discovered a process of producing high octane aviation petrol from pine resin which is collected throughout the nation. SITTANG RIVER BATTLE MORE THAN 10,000 JAPS KILLED London. Aug. 4. More than 10.000 Japanese have now been killed or captured in the Sittang River battle, Burma. Their casualties are still mounting as British and Indian troops, fighting waistdeep in water. <-*ontinue to pick them off in paddy fields and chaungs. Maintaining ceaseless air attacks the R.A.F. recently attacked a concentration of 2500 Japanese with good results.