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EPIC OF COURAGE
HEROIC AIR FIGHTING.
Grim' Three Days' Ordeal.
NEW YORK, Oct 27.-In a de
layed dispatch on October 15 to the
newspaper "P'M," John Graham
Dowling, correspondent at Guadsl
canal Island, tells of the inspiring
courage,, faith and devotion with
which marines, navy and army forces
for 3 days stood steady as a
wall, under the terrible ordeal of
Japanese land, naval and aerial
shelling preliminary to an all-out
bid for the Solomons.
"Por 3 days," he says, "Japanese
bombers have droned over our posi
tions incessantly in great waves of
30 bombers and escorting Zeros. For
5 nights Japanese battleships and
heavy and light cruisers and de
stroyers have hurled everything they
had into our lines. Yet our people
are still here smiling.
"The enemy landed 12,000 fresa
troops within 10 miles of our posi
tions under our very noses; but not
without loss. The Japanese now
have 7,000 men ready to attack and
wrest our airport but it has cost
them 20 warships sunk or damaged
to get here. And the marines are
ready.
"These past days have been as in
spiring as tragic, as full of courage
as of heartbreaks. For 3 days we
have had no sleep and little food,
simply because there has been no
time to get it. Our magnificent
flyers have huddled sleeplessly all
night and flown torpedo-planes, dive
bombers and fighters all day. Their
story is an epic of the air itself.
They are flying until their planes
almost fall apart and then after
patching them up they take them
up again.
"It is the third day and I am sit
ting on an airfield which is covered
with bomb-craters and shellholes but
still serviceable. The have just
reported 3 waves of Japanese
bombers approaching. My blood
almost turned to water at the
thought but our fighters staggered
out in their patched planes and have
gone up to meet them. The Jap
anese transports are unloading under
our very noses.
"Major Jackson climbs into a fly
ing-boat to attack. He turns his
big ship into a torpedo-bomber, sinks
1 Japanese transport and returns
with a Zero on his tail, smoking. A
Grumman fighter gets c. the Zero's
tail and the enemy plane plunges
to earth. The raid goes on. The
Japanese come in with high con
fidence. Our world has become a
nightmare of bombs and shells. It
is incredible beyond belief but we
are still here, still alive and still
ready."
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