ARTILLERY FIRE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24836, 9 February 1942, Page 5

ARTILLERY FIRE

MANILA BAY AREA ENEMY BOMBARDMENT JAPANESE AIR LOSSES (Rec. 11 p.m.) RUGBY, Feb. 7. Operations in the Philippines have been confined mainly to artillery fire, according to a United States War Department communique issued in Washington. It states that concealed enemy batteries hear the shore in Manila Bay bombarded our harbour defences with heavy artillery for three hours. Most of the fire was concentrated against Fort Drum, but some was directed against Fort Mills and. Fort Hughes. No material damage was done. Our guns returned the fire with undetermined results. It has been determined that Lieu-tenant-general Sumusu Morioka is in command of the Japanese forces in Manila and Cavite and on the shore of Manila Bay.' There has been little infantry action on Batan peninsula in the past 24 hours, but enemy, artillery fire has been heavy.. Hostile divebombers have been active over our lines. Two of our fighters, engaged four, enemy dive-bombers and shot down two. Neither of our planes was damaged. '•'. In the Netherlands Indies eight American P 49 pursuit planes were attacked by a greatly superior force of Japanese fighters and bombers near Bali. At least three enemy planes were shot down, while one of ours was destroyed and another is missing. There is nothing to report from the other areas. PHILIPPINE QUISLING j ASSOCIATED WITH JAPANESE■',' DEFENDERS FIGHT ON (Rec, 9 p.m.) WASHINGTON, Feb. 7. A ■■' War Department communique states that General Emilio Aguinaldo, the Philippine insurrection leader, has joined the Japanese invaders in an appeal to General MacArthur to surrender, • which has been ignored. General Aguinaldo has apparently been put forward as a sort of Philippine Quisling. ■■ ' v ■ The Japanese appeal was contained in pamphlets dropped from the air. They caused considerable amusement to the American and Filipino defenders at Batan. The War Department reported yesterday that Japanese gun emplacements on the south-eastern shore of Manila Bay were destroyed by fire from our fortifications. These artillery positions were presumably designed by the enemy for an attack against Corregidor. Nine Japanese transports are at ports in Lingayen Gulf landing troops to reinforce the already very large enemy concentrations on Batan and other points on Luzon. Relative quiet has continued along the front in Batan during the past 24 hours. Aerial bombing attacks on our troops' positions, which began early in the day, decreased later on. They resulted in no damage. Intermittent artillery fire flared _up in the centre. There was some increase of patrol operations in the same general area. OIL PLANTS DESTROYED ENEMY ULTIMATUM IGNORED TREATMENT OF WHITE MEN B ATA VIA, Feb. 5. Balik Papan is now apparently in Japanese hands, but all its oil was destroyed. ~. It is revealed.'> that before £25.000,000, worth of damage was done to the oil installations a Japanese message was handed to Dutch hostages by the commander of the Japanese landing, force at Tarakan for delivery to the Dutch commander at Balik Papan, stating: "If the Balik Papan garrison demolishes the various geological riches in the area the commander and all the Netherlands soldiers under his command, and also all the; Dutch people concerned, will be wined out without exception."

The ultimatum was ignored. The Japanese found no more oil at Balik Papan than at Tarakan. An authoritative statement observes; "Protest against this new violation of the laws was useless, because we are dealing with an enemy which is trampling underfoot ths international conceptions of honour, justice, and humanity. This infamous document shows how infuriated the Japanese High Command was at Tarakan's destruction and how low it could sink when it rightly feared that in Balik Papan its hopes of finding much-needed oil would be in vain." In an attempt to break down the prestige of the white man the Japanese are reported to have bound Dutch officials to posts in the market places in native villages and left them for inspection. The native reaction, however is apparently not what the Japanese expected. For instance, in a North Borneo village, where the-officials were pilloried, the natives sent a delegation to the Japanese commander asking that the officials be released. JAPANESE CLAIMS " SINKING "■'. OF ALLIED SHIPS LONDON, Feb. 6. The Tokio official radio stated that navy planes sighted an enemy fleet in the Java Sea and claim that they sank a Dutch and an American cruiser, and also a ship of 5000. tons. The action occurred 30 miles south of Kangeang Island on February 4. A communique broadcast several hours later gave an entirely different version. It said that the Japanese sank two Dutch destroyers, and also heavily damaged one Dutch cruiser and one American of the Marblehead type. The Dutch authorities have no confirmation of this engagement and the Navy spokesman in Washington stated that there was no information in Washington regarding the Japanese claims.

JAPANESE IN BORNEO

(Rcc. 10 p.m.) LONDON, Feb. 7. The Tokio official radio said that the Domei Agency had reported that the Japanese had captured Tanadgrogot, 60 miles south-west of Balik Papan, and also that a force,.operating on the east coast of British Borneo, captured Lahaddatu, 60 miles north-east of Tawao.