JAPANESE BASES BOMBED

Southland Times, Issue 24759, 2 June 1942, Page 5

JAPANESE BASES BOMBED

ALLIED SUCCESSES (Rec. 6.30 p.m.) MELBOURNE, June 1. Reports reaching General Headquarters from the North Australian Front show that Allied airmen are fast perfecting their technique of night operations. Taking advantage of the moonlight again on Friday they raided bases as widely scattered as the Solomon Islands, Rabaul and Dilli, in Portuguese Timor. Americans who saw action in the Philippines say the Japanese are poor night flyers and this is being borne out by the negligible damage so far reported from the enemy night raids on Port Moresby. In sharp contrast is the record of smashing successes by Allied raiders as outlined in communiques from General Headquarters at the week-end. The Daily Telegraph’s representative at an undisclosed operational base says that heavy reinforcements of long lange Zero fighters which the Japanese are throwing into the New Guinea battle have given a new angle to the struggle. The Zero is unquestionably the most serious factor with which the Allied air forces have to cope. . . The Japanese are apparently pinning their faith on large numbers of the. newer type of Zeros ss a check to the Allied policy or wearing down their air power in New Guinea. The Allied Air Forces, meanwhile, taking the advantage of the moonlit nights, are sending over bombers on a new schedule. The New Guinea war would quickly be decided in Allied favour if the United Nations had fighters in action capable of matching the Zeros in range. A disadvantage of the Zero, however is that its range is achieved at the ’cost of vulnerability. Moreover Allied bombers have such effective armament that they frequently come off best in actual combat with the Zeros. QUICK ACTION AGAINST JAPAN URGED (Rec. 8.30 p.m.) WASHINGTON, June 1. Major-General Shih-ming, the Chinese military attache, speaking in an of- . ficial army radio programme, urged the , United Nations to strike quickly against j Japan from the Chinese air bases in Chekiang, which are now threatened by | the Japanese advances. Such an offensive would force the Japanese to draw their navy and air force back to protect their communications, thereby relieving India and Australia from danger. Marshal Chiang-Kai-shek, the Com-mander-in-Chief, speaking from Chungking, voiced China’s need of planes and tanks. “I pledge my word that given 10 per cent, of the equipment produced in America, the Chinese Army will give , you 100 per cent, desired results,” he | said. He added that the principles of the Atlantic Charter would be applied not only to America and Europe, but also to all peoples and races, so that freedom, justice and equality should reign throughout the world. AUSTRALIANS NOW FLY AMERICAN PLANES (Rec. 6.30 p.m.) SYDNEY, June 1. Lieutenant-General George H. Brett, in an interview over the week-end, at an undisclosed operational base, said Australian squadrons were being equipped with, and Australian pilots were being trained in, the latest highspeed American aircraft, so that they could take their places in the first line of battle. Praising the men at present engaged in actual operations against the enemy, Lieutenant-General Brett said: “Those lads are doing a fine job. They are the heart of the whole show.” Lieutenant-General Brett expressed confidence in the ultimate outcome of the war over New Guinea. “We are still maintaining a three to one advan-

tage over the enemy in losses on ,the ground and in the air,” he said. “We shall continue to hammer the enemy wherever he tries to establish himself.”