SABANG RAID

New Zealand Herald, Volume 81, Issue 24875, 22 April 1944, Page 7

SABANG RAID

HEAVY BOMBING ENEMY SURPRISED SIGNIFICANT ATTACK ALLIED NAVAL POWER LONDON, April '2O A South-east Asia communique describes the Allied raid on Sabang, Sumatra. Dutch East Indies, as follows: — "Bombers and fighters ironi air-craft-carriers, which were escorted by a powerful Allied licet of battleships, cruisers, destroyers and submarines, carried out a surprise raid on Sabang and the Iho Nga airfields, northern Sumatra, at dawn. "Heavy bombs were used, and the fighter escorts strafed ground targets. At Sabang numerous direct hits were made on the dockyards, power station, wharf, barracks, hangars, workshops and radio station, and in the town area large fires were left burning. Bombs Hit Merchant Ships "Heavy bombs fell on two merchant ships, each between 4000 and 5000 tons. Two Japanese destroyers and an escort vessel were strafed and set on fire, 22

| planes, including six large transport aircraft, were destroyed on the ground, | and a 10001b. bomb fell on an oil tank, which was left burning. On the Ilio Nga airfields several aircraft were destroyed on the ground. "The enemy appears to have been taken completely by surprise, but he replied to the attack with intense antiaircraft fire from light guns." By attacking Sumatra, Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten has struck his first major blow against the Japanese in the Dutch East Indies. North-west of Sabang lie the Nicobar and the Andai mail Islands, which were raided by India-based aircraft a few days ago, but Sabang is the western outpost of the rich Dutch possession which the Japanese overran. One thousand miles east of Ceylon, it is 680 miles west of Singapore, across the Malacca Strait, the "gateway to the East," and was a coaling station of some importance in peacetime. Crippling Enemy Bases Iho Nga is on the mainland of Sumatra, some 20 miles south of I Sabang, and a few miles west of the important town of Kuta Raja, the terminus of the railway which skirts the north-west coast of Sumatra. "The attack against Sumatra indicates that Admiral Somerville intends ! to cripple the bases from which the Japanese could launch a naval offensive toward the west," says the Associated Press correspondent in Ceylon. The raid is interpreted in London as the forerunner to other amphibious operations. The Evening News naval correspondent points out that Admiral Somerville's attack on Sumatra is the first naval raid against Japanese-occupied territory in this part of the world. Coming within a day or two of the announcement that Admiral Mountbatten's headquarters had been moved to Ceylon, the attack has great significance. A Malayan Preliminary The retaking of Sumatra would be a vital factor in regaining Singapore and the Malayan Peninsula. Until the Japanese have been driven out of Sumatra, no operation for the recapture of Malaya can hoj>e to succeed, and Sabang is the obvious jumpingoff ground as a base for amphibious operations against Sumatra. Renter's correspondent comments that the tactics of the latest attack follow closely upon those used by Admiral Nimitz and Admiral Halsey in the Pacific against the outer ring of Japan's defences. He also says that the Tokyo correspondent of the German overseas news agency recently estimated the strength of the British Fleet in the Indian Ocean as seven or eight battleships, five aircraft-carriers, eight heavy cruisers, eight light cruisers and a number of destroyer flotillas. BENEFIT TO NEUTRALS ALLIED PLANES USED (Reed. 5.35 p.m.) LONDON, April '2l Some neutral countries have built up their air forces with Allied planes which have made forced landings in their territory, says the aviation writer of the Daily Mail. Spain i.s using a number of Hying Fortresses and other planes. Sweden has even planned to open an airline to Britain with converted Liberators. Eire's air force is now flying Spitfires, Hurricanes and Fleet Air Arm Martlets and fludsons, while there has hardly been a time since the early days of the war when converted Allied planes have not been seen at Lisbon's main airport SONS OF PRESIDENT PROMOTION ANNOUNCED WASHINGTON, April 20 The Navy Department announces that Lieutenant-Colonel James Roosevelt, of the Marine Corps, eldest son of President Roosevelt, has been promoted to full colonel. Lieutenant Franklin Roosevelt. U.S.N., has been selected for pro-, motion to Ueittena&t-commandar.