DRIVING FORWA

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 86, Issue 230, 30 September 1942, Page 5

DRIVING FORWA

AUSTRALIANS IN NEW GUINEA USING JAP INFILTRATION METHODS (Special Australian Correspondent—N.Z.P.A.) (Recd. 10.30 p.m.) Sydney, Sept. 29. Australian troops are driving forward against Japanese advanced positions in the Owen Stanley Ranges. By using the enemy's own infiltration and outflanking methods they are making progress, the advance being supported by 25V pounder artillery. Latest reports from General MacArthur’s headquarters indicate that the Australian advance has not so far been halted. No details of casualties have been announced but the forces engaged are described as “very considerable.”

For several days the Japs have been digging in. constructing barricades of felled trees, and placing trip wires on each side of the track at lorabaiwa. It is not twelve days since the enemy forces reached this locality.' Their defences are believed to comprise mainly “foxholes” and machine-1 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 >hey often scooped out the earth under trees, constructing positions so that tire 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 i foxholes. A Headquarters spokesman told war correspondents that the Aus- i traiian push was not an “over-the-top” frontal attack of the wori I war type. It was an infiltration move de-I veloped from the recent patrol ac- ■ tivity, and meant that the Allies were endeavouring to build up a fbrce in I the rear of the forward enemy troops.' War observers here, while gratified at the newest development, await the outcome of events which should soon j prove whether the drive has merely limited objectives or is an Allied j counter-offensive in the making. There is increasing belief that the • Japanese on this front have overr eachjed themselves and moved beyond ! the jimits of their capabilities to' bring kip adequate supplies. However,! the forward Japanese troops will cer-1 tainlyj prove a stubborn proposition t ■ shift ’from the area in which they | have 'constructed defensive positions. l Hard / fighting is expected. While the Australian land forces have taken the initiative. Allied aircraft continue their relentless bombing' and strafing over the strained enemy supply line. Again our fighters have attacked the vital Wairopi 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 cannonfire ll,OOO rounds of machine-gun fire [into buildings, barges, and store 'durryps. Aircraft of General MacArthur’s command have also given further assistance to Vice-Admiral Ghormley’s force fighting in the Solomons. Medium bombers made another W night attack on the main Bougainville Island enemy aerodrome dispersal area, and a transport and destroyer were attacked with unobserved results. American Commentator Drew Pearson says Japanese naval forces took a heavier beating in the early stages of the Solomons fighting than been revealed. However, he warn.* 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 mainland was sounded by the General Officer Commanding the Northern Territory, Major-General E. F. Herring. “We must not forget Darwin,” he said. “You can bet your last farthing the Japanese have not.” Major-General Herring, who was ) speaking to his troops, said: “When ■ .we fight here we light alone.” Help y could not be expected for a long time. Although Australia’s northern defences had been greatly improved .there could be no room for complacency. Damien Larer, Australian Department of Information war photographer, who has taken some remarkable films of the New Guinea fighting, says some high-ranking Allied officers estimate that the Japanese casualties in the campaign are much larger than ours. The main reason of the high casualty rate amon rr the Japanese is their reckless fanaticism, which frequen t tly leads them to expose themselves or disclose their positions by heedless noise.