GROWING AIR STRENGTH

Timaru Herald, Volume CLIII, Issue 22473, 7 January 1943, Page 2

GROWING AIR STRENGTH

Key To Guadalcanal Island Little Japanese Activity GUADALCANAL, Dec. 24. Ever-growing and ever-widening air strength may be the key to the role Guadalcanal is destined to play in the next phase of the war in the South Pacific. While the elusive Japanese ground forces still on the island are being gradually softened and pushed further and further away from the beach-head, the island is extending its development as an air striking base. It may still be held that all air operations based on Guadalcanal are in the defence of the island, even if they extend to enemy supply bases as far distant as Buka and Rabaul, but the significant fact is that in recent weeks the scene of air combat activity has been shifted away from the sky above the Henderson Field itself. “Washing Machine Charlie” Apart from “Washing Machine Charlie,” a lone high-flying nuisance raider, operating by night, Japanese aircraft have not visited the American base for six weeks. Their absence dates from the staggering sea and air losses suffered by the enemy in mid-Novem-ber. In the time that has elapsed since then, the growing Allied air force, with planes ranging from Flying Fortresses to new fighters, has been hitting hard and often at targets from the enemy’s front line to his far off bases. It would be foolish to believe, however, that the Japanese have made their last attempt to retake Guadalcanal, or, at least, nullify its usefulness to the Allies. On the Island itself the enemy may be expected to resist with desperate cunning and endurance whatever move is made by the United States Army and Marine Corps to clean his troops out. Altogether the Japanese are know’n to have fairly good stocks of ammunition, and supplies have been reaching them by night to a limited extent, partly, it is believed by parachute, and partly by submarine or small surface vessel. Outside the Island, too. the enemy has again been active. Aerial reconnaissance recently disclosed suspicious signs at Munda Point on the north-west tip of New Georgia Island, only about 180 miles from the Henderson Field on Guadalcanal. New Aircraft Runway Observers saw a small clearing about 50 yards wide and 50 yards long, which, within a few days, blossomed into a good-sized aircraft runway. It is believed that the Japanese did as much work as they could on their new Munda field without removing all the coconut palms. When they were obliged to clear the trees they concealed the clearing by propping up in it the tops of the palms. As soon as the purpose of this activity was seen the American planes began a shuttle bombing service to Munda by day and night. Munda was added to the list of bases, which include Buka and Buin, set down for nightly nuisance raids. Our aircraft have been staying over these targets for from two to four hours, at intervals dropping flares and bombs, and even empty liquor bottles which make an eerie whistling noise, and which, incidentally, have set everyone on Guadalcanal asking: (1) “Where did the bottles come from?” and (2) “who emptied them?” Twenty-Nine Zeros Destroyed Delayed and hindered by these attacks the Japanese persisted with the field, and yesterday the first planes in any number were observed there. Seven of them, all Zeros, were destroyed by American raiders. Douglas dive-bombers. Grumman Wildcats and Bell Airacobras went to Munda again at breakfast time this morning and destroyed 22 more Zeros, some on the ground and others in the act of taking off, without loss to themselves. They raided twice more during the day and in the third sortie caught landing barges off the shore, sinking four of them. The air here is never free from the sound of planes. It is like Crete, with the boot on the other foot. We watch the Army and Marine Corps fighters streaking off to strafe the Japanese lines a few miles to the west, divebombers and their escorts leaving on the Munda run, reconnaissance bombers cruising out across the sea, and giant Flying Fortresses carrying their great bomb loads away on long-range missions.