The Waterbury Democrat., 1942-08-15
MARINES HAVE
 STRENGTHENED UP
Continued from Page D


  tions was progressing satisfactorily, that naval units were protecting supply lines and escorting supply vessels to "our occupying forces" and that army and Allied planes were attacking enemy air and harbor bases was taken to mean:
 That the marine hold on the Tulagi area of the Solomons in- cluding the harbor, the seaplane base and probably the Kukum ajf- drove and harbor base on Guada1- canal island was now firm.
 2-That enemy naval units had been dispersed so that supply ships were able to move up under escort to the marine positions.
 3-That Allied planes were taking the attack to the enemy in order to break up reinforcing fleets of ships and planes and that so far they had been successful because it was ap- parent that no big enemy force had arrived in the southern Solomons.
 Flying FOrtresses
 Flying fortresses made the attack on the convoy bound for the Solo, mons from Rabaul-a small convoy, MacArthur reported.
 Two of six Japanese zero fighter planes which tried to protect the convoy were shot down add three were damaged.
 In thre heavy attacks on con- voy of New Guinea the day before three enemy zeros had been downed and three damaged out of total of 13.
 This brought 8 three-day score in this New Guinea-NeW Britain area to six enemy fighters damaged and between nine and 12 damaged by Allied heavy and medium bomb- CT planes out of total of 27 chal- lenging enemy planes. Not single Allied bomber was lost in the three days, though some returned to base damaged and with casualties.
 It was indicated that aside from trying to get ships southward, the Japanese had moved some planes toward the Solomons, possibly to Buka and Bougainville islands. United Press dispatches from Pearl Harbor indicated that no more doubt was held there that the stay.
 May Push Ahead
 There was already talk there of the way the Marines were expected to push northward through the Sol- mons and probably to continue to New Britain island, northwest of the Solomons and east of New Guinea to take the great base of Rabaul The loss of Rabaul would make the Japanese position in all New Guinea untenable, and MacArthur's forces would be able to push Japanese troops at the Lae-Salamaua and Bufa-Gona bases into the sea.
 Lieut. Comdr, William O. Burch, Paducah, Ky, a leader in the big United States bombing raid on Tul- agi which opened the Coral Sea battle in May, said at Pearl Harbor that Tulagi formed the mouth of Tulagi harbor which lay between it and Florida.
 When he bombed the Japanese fleet there, he said, he saw no sign of installations on the Florida shore. ] He suggested that the British, who administer the southern Solomons, had destroyed their own installa- tions before the enemy took Tulagi. Burch assumed that the Japanese had built new installations.
 Confidence in the United States position in the Solomons grew steadily in Australia.
 The Sun News Pictorial of Mel bourne will say tomorrow that If the Allies can consolidate their po- Sitions they will deprive Japan of an enormously valuable air base and anchorage for a major fleet Failure to consolidate, it will say would put Australia in greatr peril than before.