ANOTHER WEDGE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25111, 30 December 1942, Page 3

ANOTHER WEDGE

BUNA DEFENCE LINE

ENEMY MOVE FRUSTRATED (N.Z.P.A. Spec. Aust. Correspondent) (Rec. 10 p.m.) SYDNEY, Dec. 29. When the Japanese trapped by Allied forces on the right flank of their Buna position attempted to break out at midnight on Sunday they were " bloodily repulsed." This is reported in General MacArthur's communique to-day. A subsequent Allied counter-attack with artillery support drove still another wedge deep into the enemy's final defence line.

Enemy naval craft, believed to have been submarines, shelled the American-occupied Buna village for about four hours between midnight on Sunday and dawn on Monday, but the shelling caused no damage. Allied ground forces, it is revealed, captured a number of dual-purpose anti-aircraft and anti-tank guns in the fighting at the Buna airfield. Allied aircraft have again been active over the fortress area in support of our ground operations, and Havocs bombed and strafed enemy supply dumps and attacked a few Japanese who were sighted along the coast. Marauders bombed a Japanese wreck half a mile off the coast of Gona. This had been used as a supply dump, and anti-aircraft guns had been mounted there. After three direct hits the wreck was left smoking heavily. Beaufighters strafed enemy barges near the mouths of the Kumusi and Amboga Rivers.

Lightning aircraft, which are capable of speeds of 400 miles an hour, have again been reported in action. It is revealed that the Allied air commander, Lieutenant-general Kenny, had been patiently husbanding them for a major air battle, and he achieved his wish to throw them as a shock weapon against the most formidable Zero concentration he could find in New Guinea. Lightnings have been used in the Southwest Pacific mainly for reconnaissance work, for which their high speed makes them particularly suited.