ALLIED AIR STRENGTH

Southland Times, Issue 24864, 2 October 1942, Page 5

ALLIED AIR STRENGTH

Heavy Japanese Losses (Special Australian Correspondent, N.Z.P.A.) SYDNEY, October 1. The New York Times, commenting on the Pacific situation, says: “General Wavell indicated that Japan’s primary weakness would develop in the air. I Certainly some weakness in this reI spect is apparent in the .South Seas. I Japanese air power has been insuffiI cient to support their brilliant advance across the Owen Stanley Range. Enemy planes were virtually driven from the skies while, unhindered, Allied aircraft tore up communications behind the advancing Japanese. The belief .that the latest model fighters are being used in the South Pacific by the United Nations is expressed by The New York Times. This newspaper reports that the Japanese have lost 207 planes in the Solomons since the Marines landed in Guadalcanar and it adds: “This ratio is more than five to one of American losses and it suggests a glaring disparity in the quality of the aircraft in use. Our flyers could not inflict such damage unless they were using the newest machines.” Point has been given to this American belief by the public announcement that British Beaufighters flown by Royal Australian Air Force pilots are now in action in New Guinea attacking Japanese ships, troops and supply columns. With a top speed of 330 miles an hour and a range of 1500 miles these heavily armed aircraft have proved their value not only as night fighters, but also as low altitude strafers. It is in this capacity that they are being used in New Guinea with conspicuous success. According to The New York Times Allied air superiority is an important factor in the counter-attacks against the Japanese which are making progress both in New Guniea and the Solomons. JAPANESE - CRUELTY Treatment Of Javanese (Special Australian Correspondent, N.Z.P.A.) (Rec. 7 p.m.) SYDNEY, October 1. Almost the whole male European population of Java is living in pitiful conditions in prisons and prison camps. This was revealed by three Dutchmen who have now reached Allied territory after escaping from Java. Military prisoners, they said, are forced to do manual work. The diet of the prisoners consisted entirely of rice. European women and children had not been harmed. They lived together cooperatively, but their living standard was very low. The Japanese treatment of the native population is brutal, declare the escapees. The natives are punished for burglary and similar offences by having their hands cut off. Beheadings are carried out daily in the streets. The brutality of the Japanese is further emphasized by a story of how enemy cruisers sank a United States patrol boat in the Solomons and then methodically machine-gunned to death five of six men in the water. The patrol boat left its base on the night of September 18 in search of submarines off the Guadalcanar coast. At dawn next day the crew sighted the cruiser bearing down from the west. “We could not make our base, so we headed for Tulagi, 15 miles away,” said the sole survivor. “The cruiser soon caught us, firing its machine-guns as it moved within range. One by one the crew slipped overboard. One of them yelled at the Japanese: Til see you in hell.’ I jumped into the water just as our boat sank. The cruiser ignored me and headed for the others. She halted and for five minutes I could hear firing as the Japanese machine-gunned my mates.” U.S. TRANSPORTS LOST South Pacific Operations (Rec. 6.30 p.m.) WASHINGTON, September 30. A Navy Department communique says that in the South Pacific about noon on August 8 a Japanese torpedoplane crashed into and set fire to the naval transport George F. Elliott, formerly the City of Los Angeles, during a. torpedo attack, which was previously announced. Burning gasoline started fires which could not be extinguished. The George F. Elliott was abandoned and destroyed. There were a few casualties. The small auxiliary transport Gregory was recently sunk by enemy gunfire off Guadalcanar. Most of the personnel were saved.