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U.S. FORCES OCCUPY VELLA LAV ELLA
Only 60 Miles From
Big Jap Bases
KOLOMBANGARA MAY
BE CUT OFF
SOMEWHERE IN AUSTRALIA, Tuesday.-By their occupa
tion of Vella Lavella, American forces are only 60 miles from
Japan's strong air and naval bases in thc Buin-Faisi area of thc
Northern Solomons. j
General MacArthur's headquarters, announcing seizure o( '
the island, states that it places the Allied forces north of the !
Japanese base at Villa, on Kolombangara, which renders its-con- I
tinuous supply problematical. '
Kolombangara is sandwiched between New Georgia and
Vella Lavella, most northerly of the group. The landing was
made in force on Sunday, and the first beachhead was established |
at the southern end of the island.
Tn-iU'.i 's c oí» tu tl ii 1 ijue stu lo- ¡hut ap
proximately :'"*)(! Japanese .. le.i'ugces''
mío taken pri-oncr. Tilt.' majority
nure siirvhuis Hum ..Iapunóse wurships
-a cniisxT ;inil tim destroyers, sunk
l'y Allied naval ai-lion in Vein Gulf
on thc night ot' August 0-7.
There is no iiirthcr nev.'s oi
;,'iotnul lighting around Bairoko,
tlie last Japanese foothold ou New
Georgia. On Monday, Allied me
dium bombers again made a night
raid on the airfield at Villa,
Vella t/»\eüa, one ol' the ieis-devel
opfd islands in tho .Solomons, is about
i'o milos long and lo miles across
-lishlly laigri than Reiidmu. ¿mil Kolom
buug'.ira. it hu* a eompurativcly
levul plateau about 00 feet abuvc you
level, broken by small rivers flowing
from a steep rent ntl range of moun
tain.-'. The range is ra/.or-baeked. and
lises to aüüt) feet. There are harbors
and uucliurugcs useful as bases for
short-range invasion craft, lut prob
able no pori facilities.
ALLIED CONFIDENCE j
So ¡'ar as is known, thc Japanese did j
not havo any large military installa- j
tions there, although noni iou of thc
northern side may be suitable for the
construction of an airfield.
This would bring Allied planes within
."in miles ol' (he importa ut Japanese air
bases at Baílale und Fai.-i. in the Short
land Islands, and 00 miles off thc Ka
hili aerodrome, ut thc southern cud of
Bougainville.
Villa was ns strongly held as Munda
itself, and for the Americans to by
pass it and approach within (50 miles
of thc great Japanese fortress arcas iu
the Short lands denotes:
(1) Complete confidence that thc
Allies will be able to maintain un
challenged sea and air superiority.
Ä (2) The probability of an early
attack on Bougainville . itself. If
this attack be made, the greatest
land battle of the Pacific -war -will
develop.
Thc Japanese are known to have had
ns many as öO.OO.O or 00,000 first-line
troops on Bougainville, where thc coun
tiv is flat and dry and where workable
road systems had been developed even
before thc war.
AIR VICTORY
In another battle over the Wntut
Valley, in north-eastern Xew Guinea,
Allied high-altitude .fighters on Mon- j
day shot down li' Japanese pianos and
probably destroyed two others. To-day's
communique stated that one Allied
fighter was lost and four others slight
ly damaged.
Wûtut. Vallev ii about -10 miles
south-west, of tho Janauese base at
J.ac, on the Huon Gulf.
This makes 26 oncmy planes shot
down by Allied aircraft in combat
over Watùt Valley in two days.
It is also reported that more than 200 |
.Tnpnnese dead were counted after Aus
tralian and American troops had storm
ed Roosevelt Ridge, just north of
Ta m bu Bay. about live miles from the
Salamaua isthmus.
1 A small force of Aniencnu-m.-iiiuod
i Liberaler bombers, made another record
llijiht of more iban Í.3Ü0 miles from the
Aa.- alian mainland yesterday to strike
at lia li kpa pei ii, largest uil port, in .1 a] ¡a ii -
cse-held Dutch Borneo.
Although the main purpose w.n.
' to assess the damage caused by
: Saturday's attack on the oil instal
! lations, the Liberators set fire to fi
BOOO-ton tanker, scored bomb hits
I on oil storage tanks and destroyed
or damaged six Japanese fighters
which attempted interception.
l'onr of the enemv fichiers arc of
ficially listed as destroyed, one prob
ably destroyed and one damaged. Our
bombers returned safely.
Yesterday a single Japanese plane
I appeared over Broome, in West Aus
I trn 1 in. and dropped .five bombs aim
I lesslv. causing neither damage nor
v:,r.-mlties.
G.H.Q. Communique
To-day's communique read:
North-Eastern Sector - Solomons
(South Pacific Forces)-Vella Lavella
Island: Our ground troops have seized
the island of Yella Lavella, surprising
ami capturiug there approximately ööü
enemy refugees. This places our for
ces north of the enemy's position at
Villa, on Kolombangurn. Island, and
renders ils continuous supply problema
tical. Kolombangara-Villa: Our me
dium units at night bombed the aero
drome. Santa Ysabol-Kckata Bay: Our
medium units bombed supply areas and
oncmv installations at liekata Bay
starting tires.
New Guinea-Tambu Bay: Our
ground forres continued thc advance
on the ridge near the bay, and now
control it. More than Ü0Ó enemy dend
were loft in our lines. Wa ttl t Valley:
A force of 2ô enemy dive bombers and
lighters -10 miles south-west of Lae was
intercepted and defeated hy our high
altitude fighters in a tierce 20-miuute
combat in which the enemy lost 1
plaues shot down and destroyed and
lifo probably destroyed. Oiir losses
were one fighter destroyed and four
slightly damaged. Lae: Our heavy re
connaissance units bombed enemy in
stallations at Yoco Point, causing tires.
Saidor: Our medium' units on night pa
trol bombed and strafed fiyo enemy
barges off shore, destroying or dam
aging them all.
New Britain: Our long-range fight
ers and attack planes, on a sweep along
the southern coastline, set fire to a
smnll enemv coastal ship and a barge
and bombed a dump area near Gas
mata.
North-western Sector-Balikpapan:
Our heavv units on reconnaissance to
assess the damage caused by our recent
attacks, bombed a b000-ton tanker in
the harbor, setting it on fire. They
also hit the oil storage tanks, rekindling
tho smouldering fires. Six enemy
fighters wero intercepted over the tar
get aud'shot down, four beiug definite
ly destroyed, one probably destroyed
and one damaged. Our planes returned
safely. Kai-Tannabar Island: Our
medium units at night bombed Lang
goer and Saumlaki, despite bad wea
ther.
Broome: A single enemy plane drop
ped five bombs aimlessly in the area,
causing: neither damage nor casual
ties.
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