Page 1 Advertisements Column 7

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 87, Issue 2, 4 January 1943, Page 1

( ON JAP FLANK I ALLIED FORCE LANDED SPECTACULAR STORY Sydney, Dec. 22. .The announcement uiai a uniteu States force nad oeen landed in Papua and was operating on me Japanese left flank, was swamped by tne nl..s of the Nortn African invasion, out. an illustration ot hign enueavuu*, even if it was on a smaii scale, it is hard to beat. In a country covered by trick jungle, landing grounds ior aircraic are hard to una, nara to mane and hard to hide. So it was mac tne puou of a lone Ailieu aircrait nnding uiat he was lost and snort of pecrui over this country did not give mucn tor ms chances. He searened ratner Hopelessly and spotted a smoom piece of grassland wmen was as goou as it looKed. it turned out to oe o natural airfield. When he returned to his unit he reported it ano a party was sent to look it over. Soon alter, b.g pianes laden with troops, food and ammunition, began to arrive, in a matter ot hours an entire A.I.F. unit nad been flown in by united States planes. The operation was carneu out right under tne nose of tne Japanese army, but without the enemy giving any evidence or his knowledge or tne move. The pilot of the fuelless plane who was responsible for the establishment of the Allied base in the wilderness, not oniy discovered a valuame airfield, but a traditional “tropical paradise.” Blending strangely witn its exotic surroundings bloomed a display of yellow cannas grown from imported seed in the garden of a homestead. This was a collection of stilted grass huts, the homes of the scantily dressed native men and women, who accepted the terrific goings on about them with a quaint blaseness. Even more quaint is the protest they have made to the commanding otneer of the Allied forces about nis troops bathing as they have become accustomed to in Port Moresby and Milne Bay—with nothing on. Slashing Out a Runway. Before the influx of troops at the new base natives cut down the headhigh, saw-tootned lalong grass, which enabled a few planes to bring in a.i.f . engineers, who immediately sec to work to carve out a landing ground. After hours of back-breaKing i|dl with bayonets, machetes, and cane knives, the Australian engineers slashed out a runway, which from the air was a long, straight swathe through the high grass, and flanked on either side by dense trees and jungle undergrowth. The field was ready by nightfall, but during the night heavy rain fell, and everybody thought that the strip would be flooded and useless by morning. Soon after dawn a reconnaissance bomber came over, circled a few times and made a perfect landing, while the Australians cheered and tnrew their hats into the air. That same day the occupation began. The first great plane, crowded with green-uniformed American troops, and with every inch of space crammed with fighting equipment, roared in for a perfect landing. Within a short time many other huge aircraft had arrived, unloaded their troops and equipment, and taken off for further loads. By nightfall more than two-score landings and take-offs had been carried out without a hitch. As each plane landed Americans, Australians and natives rushed forward to unioaa the freight and to drag it away into the bushes, where it could not be seen if Japanese reconnaissance planes came over. Each plane was loaded with mathematical care. Every load was calculated to the pound. One pilot claimed that weights were checked to I * ? last round of ammunition, and eve >v - thing was worked oy a system whe*tby the number of troops carried m each plane was sufficient to unload its I freight in the shortest possible time. In Occupation. The average time each plane spent on the strip was counted in Th* last plane for the day ieR just as darkness was falling over the jungle. Below, except tor the dark wheef tracks maue on the grass strip by the constant procession of planes, there was no sign of occupation. Yet down below, where a tew Australian engineers and a handful of natives had had breakfast that morning, a whole Allied combat force, numbering unspecified hundreds oi men, was now lining up for "evening chow.” Moreover, in that one day of incredible activity the troops had dug in, manned their defensive positions, stacked their stores and equipment under cover, and prepareu tneir quarters. 1 Next morning many other planes, fully loaded, landed on the strip. Ausj tralian and American soldiers, who had manhandled tons of heavy equipment by sheer sweat and musclej cheered and cheered again as the planes unloaded American Army jeeps. The American planes continued to stream in, landings being made on an average 01 one every tour minutes. While an R.A.A.F. sergeant-pilot supervised the running of tne airfield with split-second efficiency, Australian and American A.A. gunners kept a close guard on the skies, and Australian engineers looked after the maintenance of the strip. Within two or three days one of the most efficient and spectacular air movements of troops in military history had been accomplished. A NEW WING FOR PLANES A new version of the flying wing, one that is adapted to a smufier pnu.c than the iNorthrop type, earner patented, is the invention of David R. Davis, of Los Angeles, who has received United States Patent 2,298,040. The rights have been assigned to the Manta Aircrait Corporation, Los Angeles, states the New York Times. The front of the wing has a snarp V-shape. The rear is a much flatter V. Tne whole wing thus has a shape like a foreshortened kite, 't his shape has been tried before, Mr. Davis states, but proved unstable because ot poor aerodynamical action at the wing tips. This he remedies by curving the front edges slightly forward as they approach tne tips, and by rounding the tips. A better grip on the air is obtained and the plane is made stable. WASHINGTON, Jan. l.- Th? War Production Board has ordered the 1943 consumption of newsprint by newsprint magazines not to exceed that of 1941, representing a 10 per cent, reduction. The Canadian Prices Board has announced similar rationing.