BURMA CAMPAIGN

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 87, Issue 64, 18 March 1943, Page 5

BURMA CAMPAIGN

FIGHTING MUCH AIR ACTIVITY Recd. 6 p.m. Rugby, March 16. An India communique says that fighting continues north of Rathedaung, but that to yesterday evening no further change in positions i had taken place. Activity is con- ■ centrated chiefly in the area between Thanngadara and Kyauktaw, north-north-east of Rathedaung, where a series of fierce attacks and counterattacks has geen going or. Throughout yesterday R.A.F. bombers and fighters continued to give maximum support to the land forces in this sector. Bombers were seen to burst on all the targets attacked, and in one place large fires were started among enemy-occupied buildings. Low-flying fighters were active in the battle area, and among the other targets successfully attacked was an important gun position. ■During the morning a force of enemy bombers, with fighter escort, attacked in the Rathedaung area, but only slight damage was caused. Shortly afterwards, an R.A.F. formation ot Blenheims, escorted by Hurricanes, returning from an operation further south, encountered the enemy, and many combats ensued. Three enemy aircraft were destroyed and several others damaged. Our losses were two fighters and one Blenheim, but the crew of the Blenheim is known to be safe. Last night R.A.F. Liberators attacked the Japanese base aerodrome at Toungoo, in central Burma. From all these operations, with the exception of the losses reported above, one of our aircraft is missing. Thanngadara is about five miles above Rathedaung. Kyauktaw is three miles north of Thaungdara.—B.O.W.

JAPANESE EFFORT

THREE DIVISIONS USED IN BURMA London, March 15. Japanese troop movements suggest strong efforts to restore the situation on the north-west frontiers of Burma before the monsoon breaks, says The Times correspondent at general headquarters, India. The India Command has given little respite since the end of last year’s rains to the Japanese forward screen forming a wide arc from Akyab to the Hukawng Valley. The time has not been ripe for a major move into Burma, but the enemy’s advanced force has been heavily punished, and the Japanese now feel the need to reassert themselves, for they cannot be sure what blows the British and Indian forces will deliver during the six weeks before the rains begin. They are attempting to regain the local initiative, for which purpose they are estimated to be employing at. least three divisions, consisting of spearhead troops who have seen much fighting in China, Malaya, and Sumatra.