PRE-INVASION OF JAPAN

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 89, Issue 169, 19 July 1945, Page 5

PRE-INVASION OF JAPAN

AIR AND NAVAL BOMBARDMENT CONTINUES!

OBVIOUS SOFTENING AND DESTRUCTION FOR WHAT IS BOUND TO FOLLOW

Recd. I 1 p.m. London, July 1 8. The air and naval bombardment of Japan is continuing, both British and American warships participating. Tokio reports another raid by some 500 American carrier-borne planes in the Tokio region about noon to-day (Japanese time). Following upon Admiral Nimitz’s statement that the war against Japan had reached the preinvasion stage, the Tokio radio keeps repeatedly predicting that an invasion is near. Among the British warships engaged in the bombardment was the giant battleship King George V. Guarded ty many planes, she moved down the Japanese coast, flinging shell after shell into Japanese war industries. There was no opposition. _

Reed. 8.15 p.m. Washington. July 17. Attacks launched by British and American carrier aircraft at dawn to-day continued all day against installations in the Tokio area. In the late afternoon, powerful surface units of the combined forces, under cover of strong flights of aircraft, moved toward the coastline of Honshu at Hitachi, where to-night a combined heavy bombardment of coastal installations was made- The attack was made under a low overcast, which prevented air observations. Privateers sank six and damaged 24 craft of various sizes. ; n widespread operations, and also attacked lighthouse and shipping installations. The Associated Press Guam correspondent says a great battleline slor.tl t.fl the coast in a rainy, misty night, steadily hurling 270'>ib. 111-inch shells into Hitachi’s highly-concentrated aircraft, elcetrisa’ and diesel engine plants and copper smelters. Correspondents reported that the ships closed to within six miles of ths shore. The attack opened at midnight, and lasted two hours. The. Japanese of'ered no opposition. They are apparently hoarding aircraft’for the invasion they know cannot be far off. Battleships erniscis a:.d destroyers started running toward Hitachi late yesterday, after the Tokio area was swept for eight hours by 1500 British and American fighters. Admiral Nimitz reported that some of the most powerful battleships of the 3rd Fleet, including the 45,000-ton battleship lowa, with cruisers and destroyers, heavily bombarded industrial conccntr.il ions in the vicinity of Hitachi, on the cast coast of Honshu, 80 miles north-east of Tokio.

An Associated Press correspondent Bays that Hitachi has many vital targets, including concentrated copper mines, a smelter and refiner; engineering works, an aircraft engmfactory ,a precision instrument plan; also vulnerable transportation facilities. • COMPLETE DISDAIN OF ENEMY. The fleets bombardment force, as ini the earlier sheilings acted in com-. 1 plete disdain of the enemy navy and! air force, casting radio silence aside within the shadow ot Japan’s coast’ x line and permitting broadcasts describ-: j ing the attack, w.acn were unpreced-i 1 ented in naval history. A iNat.onal! t Broadcasting Corporation correspon-! ‘ dent, broadcasting from a battieship . said: “The 3rd Fleet is pouring in| shells at the rate ot 50,000 pounds a 1 1 Xirnute. If fires on the shore are any 1 indication, the fleet is doing its joa, ( well. So far the enemy have made no' l retaliatory gesture.” A broadcast by another correspon- « dent said that the fleet was bombard-1 \ ing he coastline from less than 10jt miles off shore and industrial regions; i were a flaming rum. i 1 110 SHIPS SUNK BY PLANES- e Admiral Nimitz, r. a special com-1 jnunique detailing the results of the * great carrier striKes on Saturday andr JSui day, says that 3ra Fleet aircraitH destroyed or damaged eveiy target J J they encountered. Despite adverse j 1 weather 159 000 tons of snipping were ( sunk or damaged. The 140 ships i sunk totalled 71,000 tons and included e 12 medium cargo ships, six train < ferries, one large cargo ship, a ue- ( stroyer and two destroyer escorts, j The ships damaged totalled 88,000 tons. | Great havoc was caused to Japans j faltering internal transport system. * A total of 84 locomotives was destroy- , ed and 45 damaged. In addition, fac- < tories, oil tanks, railroad yards, ‘ bridges, radio stations canneries and ' doc., s were destroyed or damaged. A ' total of 37 Japanese pianes were de-j strayed on the ground and 45 others t we r e damaged. American losses throughout the!' many hundreds of sorties were 2-. planes. No enemy air-borne opposition was encountered. Admiral Nimitz later announced that the battleship King George V ano| lessor British units joined the Ameri-j can fleet bombarding coastal installs-j tions in the Hitachi area, Honshu’ Island, to-night. _____