MacARTHUR’S FORCES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25796, 17 March 1945, Page 7

MacARTHUR’S FORCES

PROGRESS IN PHILIPPINES ADVANCES ON ROTH ISLANDS WASHINGTON, (Rec. 11.40 p.m.). Mar. 15. “ The Eleventh Airborne Division pushing into Eastern Batangas province from the north reached Santo Tomas and Tanauan,” says General MacArthur’s communique. “The 158th Regiment, clearing the shores of Batangas Bay on the south coast, destroyed a concentration of enemy barges and dispersed enemy elements attempting to land at 8010. The Sixth and Fortythird Divisions continue to advance in the Antipolo sector and are approaching Teresa. “ On Mindanao the Thirty-first Division has captured Pasananca, north of Zamboanga, in the face of increasing resistance and' has reached San Ramon and Manichan, thereby controlling 28 miles of coastline and an additional 15 villages. “ Heavy bombers in attacks on Formosa directly hit the Jitsugetsu hydroelectric plant and bombed a number of towns north of Tainan. Patrol planes sank a coastal freighter and damaged three others off Okinawa Island. Air patrols over the China Sea sank a destroyer, a 5000-ton tanker, and four small freighters.”