HAVOC WROUGHT

Timaru Herald, Volume CLVI, Issue 23014, 4 October 1944, Page 5

HAVOC WROUGHT

Enemy Installations In Celebes Stiffening Defence N.Z.P.A.—Special Correspondent

Rec. 10.15 p.m.) SYDNEY, Oct. 3. Concentrated bombing during recent weeks has wrought havoc with Japanese installations in the Celebes.

In an attempt to prevent further heavy destruction, crack enemy pilots are now putting up a stiffening defence over the area. Twice in the last week Liberators raiding the Japanese air centre of Kendari have been intercepted by small but aggressive enemy fighter formations.

In the first interception, on September 25, three of nine interceptors were shot down for the loss of one Lightning. On Saturday five fighters attempted to drive off raiding Liberaators. Three were shot dowm and a fourth was probably destroyed. A single enemy bomber was also shot down. All the Allied planes returned to their base.

Since September 16 Catalina night Marauders known as “Black Cats ’ have destroyed or seriously damaged more than 100,000 tons of Japanese shipping between the Celebes and the Philippines. This is described at General MacArthur’s Headquarters as a “paralysing blow at Japan's critical shipping situation." The loss of tankers employed in carrying fuel from the Borneo oil port of Balik Papan poses the Japanese with a serious problem. In British New Guinea the remnants of Generfal Adachi’s Japanese 18th Army are being heavily hit from the air. These enemy troops and their supplies are nearing exhaustion point. They have already suffered severe casualties and their position is hopeless.