AMERICANS NEAR MUNDA

Southland Times, Issue 25709, 19 July 1943, Page 5

AMERICANS NEAR MUNDA

Hardships Suffered By Troops (Special Australian Correspondent, N.Z.P.A.) (Rec. 7.50 p.m.) SYDNEY, July 18. Some of the Japanese garrison defending Munda airfield appear to be withdrawing to the hills. The cost of capturing this important base may not be so high as has been expected, according to an Australian war correspondent in the area. Four days of murderous fighting have brought the American troops within two miles of the airfield. Allied planes operating in direct support of the ground forces have attacked targets only three-quarters of a mile from the landing strips. The Munda garrison has been variously estimated to number between 5000 and 10,000 troops. The strongest resistance is being encountered by the Americans attacking from the north. They must root out the Japanese from blockhouses and deep pillbox defences. Large enemy forces have also been deployed in the jungle to harass the steadily advancing Americans by incessant sniping and savage night attacks. Allied naval guns, shore artillery and aerial attacks have turned the Munda defence area into a shambles. In a round-the-clock bombardment 600 tons of high explosives daily are being plastered over the Japanese positions. “The American plan to swamp Munda

with material and numerical strength seems to be working,” writes a war correspondent, describing these attacks. “No sooner had the hell of a mass divebomber raid subsided than I heard an express train scream as our island batteries hurled yet another salvo of shells which landed before the last shiver of the bomb blast had died away. This, I think, must be the beginning of Munda’s end.” FIGHTING AT NIGHT Behind the heavy barrage the opposing ground forces are engaged in a war which often remains comparatively tame by day, but becomes deadly by night. During the day the Japanese forces deployed in the jungle fight retiring rearguard actions, but at night they endeavour to filter into the American bivouc areas and attack savagely with knives. “The Japanese is an ugly customer to reckon with after dark,” says the correspondent. “We can whip him by day, but we haven’t found a method of matching him after sundown. He still has the edge on us in this grim night fighting. As in New Guinea and Guadalcanar the Americans follow their old tactics of freezing to the ground at night and shooting anything that moves.” In daylight American patrols are constantly active, creeping through dense undergrowth and pin-pointing Japanese machine-gun nests. Larger forces are then sent to overwhelm each position with mortars, machine-guns, grenades and bayonet charges. The Japanese fight till they die. Then, as the sun sets, the enemy begin to take their turn in the role of aggressor. SEVERE PRIVATIONS As in New Guinea and Guadalcanar, this is a war of incredible hardships. “Ten minutes’ travelling and a man is slimmed to the very hair,” comments a correspondent. Some of the most severe privations of the present campaign were endured by the American force which wiped out the enemy garrison and captured the heavy shore battery at Enogai Point. To make a rear assault the attackers penetrated 13 miles of terrible jungle and malarial swamp country. Their march took five days. The men were forced to jettison everything except essential fighting equipment. Over far the greater part of the journey no Japanese were met, the enemy apparently believing the terrain to be impassable. Finally, when the Japanese outposts were captured weevily rice had to be fed to the American wounded as the attackers by then had exhausted their supplies, but they took Enogai and the shore battery of four 5inch naval guns. Not the least welcome capture was the Japanese quartermaster’s store, where the Americans found dry clothing, biscuits, rice, tinned vegetables, salmon, sardines and a plentiful supply of sake.