DAYLIGHT ATTACK

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25514, 19 April 1944, Page 5

DAYLIGHT ATTACK

ALLIED RAID ON HOLLANDIA NO ENEMY OPPOSITION (N.Z.P.A. Special Aust. Correspondent) (Rec. 10 p.m) SYDNEY, Apl. 18. Not a single Japanese fighter attempted to prevent the latest Allied air attack on Hollandia, the big enemy base in Dutch New Guinea. This is the first occasion on which Allied day raiders have been unopposed over Hollandia. The main Japanese Air Force in New Guinea moved back to Hollandia after continual bombing had made Wewak, 220 miles to the southwest, untenable.

In the latest attack, made at midday on Sunday, Liberator. Mitchell, and Boston bombers left, a small vessel and a nearby jetty in flames, wrecked a shore battery, and demolished numerous buildings. Burning fuel and supply dumps blanketed all the targets with smoke rising to 5000 feet. Wake Island. 110 miles west of Hollandia, was bombed by Liberators in a night attack. Large fires followed heavy explosions. Solomons-based planes have maintained their pressure on Rabaul, and the Japanese in the area were given no rest on Saturday or Sunday. Most of the damage done was along the Coreshore.

Dublon, in Truk Lagoon (the Carolines), was attacked by Solomonsbased Liberators before dawn on Sunday. Numerous fires and ' large explosions have been reported. Beaufighters destroyed three enemy coastal vessels and damaged two others at Roti Island, off South Timor. In South-west Pacific land fighting it is reported that Australian patrols in New Guinea, penetrating beyond Bogadjim towards Madang, have seen no signs of the enemy. The indications are that the * Japanese have entirely abandoned the area around Bogadjim. About 20,000 Australians, including 2402 Australian-born Chinese, are employed by the United States Army in Australia and New Guinea. This was revealed in a report on the extent to which the United States Army is directly sharing the services of Australian man-power. The report states that about 30 per cent, of the employees are females. The majority of the males employed have been certified'as unfit for combat duties.