NEW GUINEA BASE

Waikato Times, Volume 132, Issue 22153, 27 September 1943, Page 5

NEW GUINEA BASE

ADVANCE OF AUSTRALIANS JAPANESE RETREATING SYDNEY, Sept. 26. Allied forces have reached the northern fringe of Finschhafen and their advance is becoming slower. Near Madang Allied aircraft have been hammering the retreating enemy.

Another message states: In the final drive on Finschhafen, the Japanese base on Huon Peninsula, New Guinea, the Australians are engaged in the heaviest fighting since the Buna campaign. The Japanese resistance is aimed at making the loss of Finschhafen as costly as possible to the Allies.

Shock troops broke through the core of the enemy defences at Bumi River, threequarters of a mile north of Finschhafen. Bridgeheads were held and enlarged to cover the crossing of the main forces. Under the full weight of the Australian attack the Japanese are steadily falling back towards the township. Strong opposition is expected further on towards Langemak Bay, near the Finschhafen anchorage, where the defenders have been feverishly working on crossfire machine trenches and snipers’ posts. The enemy opposition at Bumi River provided the first warning that the capture of the base would be difficult. In the Lae campaign the failure of the Japanese to make a stand at the outer defences on the Busu River foretold the collapse of the inner defences.