FAR EAST RAIDS

New Zealand Herald, Volume 81, Issue 25049, 13 November 1944, Page 6

FAR EAST RAIDS

JAPANESE-HELD TARGETS SUPER-FORTRESS FORCE DAMAGE IN SHANGHAI (Reed. 5.35 p.m.) WASHINGTON, Nov. 11 A large task force of Super-Fort-resses today attacked three targets of vital importance to the Japanese war machine, says a Twentieth Air Force communique. Attacks were made in daylight by elements of the Twentieth Bomber Command from bases in China. Overcast skies caused a diversion of part of the effort. Bombs were dropped on Omura, Kyushu Island, Southern Japan, on Nanking, capital of the Chinese puppet Government, and on Shanghai. At Omura, the target was an aircraft factory previously attacked in a SuperFortress mission on October 25. The skies were overcast over Omura, and the bombing was accomplished through cloud by precision instruments. Results were not observed. Similar weather prevailed over Nanking, where the bombing was also done by instrument. The effects were also not observed. At Nanking, the target was the extensive dock and loading facilities, where railway traffic between Shanghai, Tientsin and Manchuria is ferried across tlie Yangtse River. Over Shanghai, good bombing was reported by some of the crews, although all elements did not have sufficient visibility to observe the results. The targot in Shanghai was the Japanese military storage and transhipment facilities on the main Japanese supply route to the occupied Asiatic mainland. Fighter opposition was reported to have been weak by most of the aircraft taking part, hut the returning crews reported that they shot down two qnemy aircraft, with seven probably shot down and 11 damaged. One of our aircraft is missing. The Tokyo radio says that 80 SuperFortresses bombed Kyushu arid Saishu Islands, causing only slight damage. General Wedemeyer's communique from Chungking reports that Fourteenth Air Force Liberators bombed Kowloon docks at Hongkong, also the area to the east, and the aerodrome at Samah Bay and Hainan Island. ADVANCE CONTINUES CAMPAIGN IN ITALY ANOTHER RIVER CROSSED (Reed. 5.35 p.m.) LONDON, Nov. 11 The Eighth Army crossed the Ronco Rivgr at several points north-east of Forli, and advanced without making contact with the enemy, says Reuter's Rome, correspondent. The capture of Forli was supported by 300 or 400 guns, which fired 66,000 rounds in the attack, most of them during the first night attack and the following day. A correspondent says that the Germans have picked up a point from our side, and are now relying more on a concentration of guns than on single guns. Most of them have been directed against our forward infantry. The capture of Forli followed a threeday co-ordinated pincer drive from the south and east, says Renter's Rome correspondent. Allied advanced troops passed through the town and reached the main bridge over the Montone River, which was blown up. There they now face the Germans who are holding the west bank. Sniping continues in the town.

The correspondent reports that after the Eighth Army's breaching of the Po Valley position by' the of Forli the Germans are_ hurriedly building new defence positions, called the Adige Line, along the north bank of the Adige River. In no other town in Italy has there been a less enthusiastic reception for liberating troops than in Forli, says the Exchange Telegraph Company's correspondent at Allied Headquarters. Forli has always been a stronghold of Fascism. There were no cheers for the Allied troops, only cold, unfriendly stares.

South of Forli, Allied troops crossed the Ilabbi River on Wednesday night, and leading elements pushed on several miles to reach the Montone River, which joins the Rabbi less than a mile south of Forli, states a correspondent in Italy, quoted by the British official wireless. The hill country south of Forli has been cleared of the enemy, whose line now runs for a distance of five and ahalf miles south-west of the town along Highway 67, parallel with the bank of the River Montone. The Exchange Telegraph Company's Rome correspondent says that snow has fallen on the Fifth Army front, varying from a light coating in some sectors to 9in on the right flank. POST IN ITALY MR HAROLD MAO MILL AN LONDON, Nov. 11 Mr Harold Macmillan, British Resident Minister in the Mediterranean, is to become head of the Allied Commission which supervises the administration of those parts of Italy handed over to the Italian Government by the Allied Military Command. It is understood that General Sir Henry Maitland Wilson remains titular president of the commission. Mr Macmillan will be responsible for Italian affairs, while the American and Russian representatives on the commission are present in an advisory capacity. France, Greece and Yugoslavia are represented on the Advisory Council for Italy. £57,000,000 PROJECT AUSTRALIAN RAILWAY GAUGE (Special Australian Correspondent) (Reed. 5.35 p.m.) SYDNEY, Nov. 12 Railway gauges unification will be one of the principal mediums of postwar employment in Australia. One estimate of the cost of standardisation for all States is £57,000,000. The Federal Cabinet's decision that the gauges should be standardised to 4ft 8 Jin, if agreed to by all State Governments, will employ about 20,000 men in the first year of the work, rising to 130,000 men before the task is completed. It is unlikely, however, that any major work will begin until after the war. At present the New South Wales State railways and most of the Commonwealth lines are of standard gauge. The gauges in the other States are: Victoria, sft 3in and 2ft 6in; Queensland, 4ft BJin, 3ft 6in and 2ft; South Australia, sft 3in and 3ft 6in; Western Australia and Tasmania, 3ft oin. The Federal Government affrmed the principle that, in the interests of defence and national development, Australia's railway gauges should he standardised at 4ft B*in. The Cabinet took the initial steps to prepare for this work. AIRMEN IN CANADA RETURNING TO NEW ZEALAND (Reed. 5.35 p.m.) OTTAWA, Nov. 11 Liaison officers says that Australian and New Zealand airmen now in the air training scheme in Canada are shortly returning to their homelands, some for operational duty and others to go into the civilian reserve. The Minister of Air, Mr C. G. Power, is expected to make an announcement shortly. CHANGE IN FINLAND (Reed. 5.35 p.m.) STOCKHOLM, Nov. 11 A message from Helsinki reports that the Government has resigned. Paasikivi has been asked to form a new Government* i