FIGHT FOR MANDALAY

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 89, Issue 68, 21 March 1945, Page 5

FIGHT FOR MANDALAY

IT IS STILL VERY HARD Recd. 11.10 p.m. London, March 20. Troops of the British 2nd Division, having taken hill positions across the Irrawaddy, are now fighting in the south of Mandalay. The Japanese are still bitterly holding out in Fort Dufferin.

ALLIED AIR SUPREMACY IN IN BURMA JAPS MOVE ONLY BY NIGHT. Recd. 5.5 p.m. London, March 20. "Because of the effectiveness of Allied air power in Burma the Japanese now move troops and supplies by road, rail and coastal shipping routes almost entirely by night, stated an Air Ministry spokesman. “The Allies, on the otner hand, because they have won air supremacy, can supply big armies entirely by air, enabling land forces to strike out in any direction in the knowledge that their supplies will reach them. Allied air superiority to-day extends not only on the whole of Burma, but over Siam. The Japanese air force rarely attacks in day time while Allied air forces are flying an average of 600 to 700 sorties uaily. Long-range bombers. naval planes and land-based fighter-bombers are subjecting the Japanese communications, from dispatch to delivery, to constant attack. “The Japanese are compelled to use very elaborate forms of camouflage to protect railway and road traffic. They put up duplicate bridges and make serviceable bridges appear unserviceable, by removing planking in the daytime and replacing it at night. They build bridges with movable pontoons, the middle of which they remove in clay time and put back after dark. “Allied transport planes in 1944 in Burma flew over 300,000 hours on 90,000 flights. They carried over a quarter of a million tons of supplies Io the combat zone and now fly 1200 sorties daiiy. A total of 2000 ions is being carried daily to four Burma fronts—Lashio, Mitta, Mandalay, and Arakan.”