FOOCHOW ENTERED

New Zealand Herald, Volume 82, Issue 25202, 15 May 1945, Page 5

FOOCHOW ENTERED

SUCCESS OF CHINESE VITAL EAST COAST PORT (Reed. 6.30 p.m.) CHUNGKING, May 14 The Chinese High Command announces that Chinese forces have entered Foochow, on the east coast of China, north-east of the island of Formosa. Street fighting is in progress. The Chinese have captured an airfield south of Foochow. The Associated Press correspondent says that the ease with which the Chinese apparently entered Foochow has lent credence to the rumours that the Japanese had evacuated the city and that Japanese strategy on the mainland had been altered to concentrate their strength beyond the Yellow River, far north of the present scene of fightThe United Press says the Chinese who entered Foochow may be driving to open a major harbour on the China coast through which they can get seaborne supplies. Other Chinese forces 265 miles north-east of Foochow have captured Sinchang, 40 miles from the coast. The Japanese trapped in the pocket on the Chihkiang front have unsuccessfully attempted to break out. The High Command announced that Chinese troops attacked the retreating Japanese, falling on them from all sides on the Honan Front, following the smashing of the Japanese drive against Chihkiang. The Chinese took three towns on the main Chihkiang-Paoking highway, including the important hub of Taonwaping. WEWAK PENINSULA CLEARED OF ENEMY AUSTRALIANS' SUCCESS (Reed. 9.20 p.m.) SYDNEY, May 13 Units of the 6th Australian Division in New Guinea cleared Wewak Peninsula against stubborn resistance, says General Mac Arthur's communique. After some of the bitterest fighting of the New Guinea campaign, troops of the 6th Australian Division have annihilated the bulk of the Japanese forces on Wewak Peninsula, writes the special Australian'correspondent of the New Zealand Press Association. They have overrun the airfield, sealed off the peninsula and are about halfway across the-shore line of Wewak harbour. An Army Department statement issued this afternoon said the enemy had fought fanatically to exact as great a toll of the Australian troops as possible, but perfect co-ordination of land, sea and air assault defeated this objective. The capture of Wewak will provide Australian forces in New Guinea with a protected harbourage and will greatly relieve their supply problem. The Japanese fleeing inland are likely to suffer heavy casualties since the Australians control a number of possible enemy escape routes across the Torrieelli mountains. Already the Japanese have suffered severely. The proportion of Japanese to Australian killed in the first two days of the coastal drive on Wewak was nearly 200 to one. A feature of the operation was one of the largest surrenders of Japanese yet recorded. More than 40 enemy personnel, including officers, gave themselves up. The Australian drive on Wewak has meant an advance of about 100 miles in face of extreme difficulties of terrain and weather. The coastal drive alone involved the construction of 80 bridges, some of which were demolished by floods and had to be rebuilt three times.

TARAKAN OILFIELDS CAPTURED BY AUSTRALIANS (Reed. 6.30 p.m.) WASHINGTON, May 13 On Tarakan, Borneo, troops of the 9th Australian Division have_ captured Djoeata oilfields and are driving north against scattered enemy resistance. The official communique says that there is only minor contact with the enemy. The Japanese fled in such haste before the Australians advancing on the Djoeata oilfields that they even omitted to leave behind snipers. The Australians captured three six-inch naval guns in concrete emplacements, but these had been rendered unserviceable by the enemy forces before their withdrawal. One strong Japanese force, bypassed by the Australians three days ago, continues to hold out in the southwestern corner of Tarakan. Aircraft bombed and strafed the waterfront and barracks at Brunei, Borneo, and attacked shipyards on the Tarakan front, sinking two freighters. Other planes continued the destruction of enemy industries on Formosa, dropping 260 tons of bombs. Long range patrols sank 11 freighters in sweeps over the China Sea, Hainan and the coastal sector from Malaya to Shanghai. 16 ARRESTED POLES CHARGES REITERATED (Reed. 5.3,5 p.m.) LONDON, May 13 The Moscow press reiterates charges of diversionist activities against the 16 Poles who have been arrested by the Russians. The journal Pravda, stating that the Poles were responsible for the deaths of over 100 Red Army officers and men. added: "This monstrous crime, as welt as the identities of the organisers and participants, has been established." S.S. TROOPS FOR MINES EMPLOYMENT IN FRANCE LONDON. May 13 The French Minister of Industrial Production, M. Robert Lacoste, stated that 30,000 German S.S. troops would be employed in French coal mines in the near future.