AUSTRALIAN ATTACK IN NEW GUINEA

Southland Times, Issue 24862, 30 September 1942, Page 5

AUSTRALIAN ATTACK IN NEW GUINEA

INFILTRATION TACTICS employed '(United Press Association— Telegraph Copyright) '(Special Australian Correspondent, N.Z.P.A.) (Rec. 10.30 p.m.) SYDNEY, September 29 Australian troops are driving forward agamst the Japanese advanced positions in the Owen Stanley Range by using the enemy’s own infiltration and outflanking methods and they are making progress. The advance is supported by 25 pounder artillery., Latest reports from General Douglas MacArthur s headquarters indicate that the Australian advance has no so far been halted. No details have been announced, but the forces engaged are described as “very considerate e. For several days the Japanese have been diggmg-m, constructing barricades of felled trees and placing trap wires on each side of the track at lorabaiwa. It is not M days since the enemy forces reached this locality, liieir defences are believed to comprise mainly “fox-holes and machine-gun pits scattered over a wide front and in considerable depth. This was their favourite method of positional defence during the fighting on Bataan Peninsula, in the Philippines, where they often scooped out earth under trees, constructing their positions so that fire could be brought to bear in all directions. It was found particularly difficult to dislodge the enemy from these posts. Often grenades had to be dropped right into the foxh°leSThe headquarters spokesman told war correspondents that the Australian push was not an “over the top frontal attack of the World War I type It was" Ration move developed from recent patrol activity and meant that the Allies were endeavouring to build up a force in the rear of the forward enemy troops.

War observers here, while gratified at the newest development, await the outcome rf events wWch should soon prove whetiier the drive has merely limited objectives or is an Allied counteroffensive in the making. There is an increasing belief that the Japanese on this Shave over-reached themselves and have moved beyond the limit of their capabilities to bring up adequate supplies. However, the forward Japanese troops will certainly prove stubborn proposition to shift from the Sa, in which they have constnicted defensive positions. Hard fighting is ex the Australian land forces have taken the initiative Allied aircraft continue their relentless bombing ana strafing over the strained enemy supply line. Again our fighters have attacked the vital bridge across the Kumusi River near Kokoda. The enemy s north New Guinea. bases at Lae and Buna have been heavily raided. At Buna our fighters poured 7000 rounds of cannon fire and 11,000 rounds of machme-gun fire into buildings, barges and store dumps. BOMBING IN SOLOMONS Aircraft of General MacArthur’s command have also given further assistance to Vice-Admiral Robert I*. Ghormley’s force fighting in the Solomons. Medium, bombers made another night attack on the main Bougainville Island enemy aerodrome. The American commentator, urew Pearson, says that the Japanese, naval forces took a heavier beating ini the early stages of the Solomons fighting than has been revealed. However he gives a warning that Japan, although reduced in strength, will be compelled to launch attacks with all the power she can muster and the future of Australia and New Zealand will be at stake in the battle. A warning that preoccupation with the fighting in the Solomons and New Guinea must not distract attention from the Australian mamland was sounded by the general officer commanding the Northern Territory, Major-General E. F. ring. “We must not forget Darwin, he said. “You can bet your last farthing that the Japanese have not” Major-General Herring, who was speaking to his troops, said: When we fight here we fight alone. Help cou d not be expected for a long time. A.though Australia’s northern defences had been greatly improved, there could be no room for complacency. W. Damien Barer, an Australian

Department of Information war photographer, who has taken some remarkable films of the New Guinea fightmg, says some high ranking Allied officers estimate that the Japanese casualties in the campaign are much larger than ours. The main reason for the high casualty rate among the Japanese is their reckless fanaticism, which frequently leads them to expose themselves or disclose their positions by needless noise. TOKYO FEARS RAIDS Japanese Told To Prepare LONDON, Sept. 28. “We must be well prepared, said the Tokyo wireless today, for the tune when United States bombers will repeatedly fly overhead. Every resource of Japan must be the Ut ]fa oS America the well-known plane designer, Mr Glenn Martin, spoke about the sort of air armada that may blitz Japan. “Just one squadron of the 70-ton Mars flying-boats could devastate Tokyo in a single tap, he said. U.S. OFFICIALS ON WAY TO NEW ZEALAND (Rec. 9.40 p.m.) 'SYDNEY, Sept. 29. Four American Consulate officials formerly stationed in Far Eastern territory now occupied by the Japanese have arrived in Australia on their way to take up new appointments. Mr J. E. Weill, formerly United States Vice-Consul at Shanghai, and Miss Fern Cavender, clerk at the Shanghai Consulate, are going to Wellington. Mr Weill declined to comment on the treatment he and his companions received from the Japanese. He said he had been held in “protective custody” by the Japanese in Shanghai. BATTLE NEAR KINHWA Heavy Japanese Casualties (Rec. 7 p.m.) CHUNGKING, Sept. 28. Chinese forces have inflicted considerable casualties on the Japanese columns striking west and south-west of Kinhwa. One enemy column lost 300 men in a four-hour battle and the remainder fled. Subsequently the Chinese engaged a second column near Wuy, south-east of Kinhwa, where fighting is going on.