The Waterbury Democrat., 1942-10-10
Gen. Macarthur Claims At tack Greatest Bombing
 of War PLANES WENT THROUGH
 ANTI-AIRCRAFT FIRE Docks, Machine Shops, Supply DepOts, Barracks
 Lie Shattered
BY DON CAsWELL

United Press Staff CorrespondenEl
 General MacArthur'S Head- quarters, Australia, October 10. - (UP)-Docks, machine shops, supply depotS, bar- racks and defense installa1. tions of the greatest Japan csc base in the Southwest Pacific lay in ruins today after a Shattering attack by Allied heavy bombing planes on Rabaul, in New Britain Island of the Bismarcks.
 General Douglas MacArthur put into the attack the greatest force of heavy bombers ever used in this theater to smash base which is a constant menace to the Marines in the Solomons and his own forces in New Guinea.
 Driving through furious arti-air~ craft gun fire, Consolidated Cata- lima medium bomberS hit the Ra~ baul area in the dead of night, showering incendiaries throughout the target area.
 60 Tons Dropped
 The biggest force of Boeing fly~ ing fortreSSeS ever sent against a target in this zone followed up with 60 tons of demolition bombs, pick ing their targets by the light of fires and explosions the incendiaries had caused.
 While some planes attacked base targets, others blew up enemy gun batteries and searchlight positions
 Eighty miles from RabauI, on their way home, the plane crews still saw the fires.
 AirdrOme Attacked
 AuStralian-built Beaufort fighters.i the tough combat planes developedl by the British Royal Air Force, andI North American B-25 medium bomberS attacked the airdrome diS- persal area and water front supply depots at Lac, on the north New Guinea coast. Their IS tons Of bombs sent smoke and debris from fires and explosions belching hln-' dreds of feet into the air. The Beauforts raked huts, buildings end gun positions with cannon and ma chine gun fire in face of fierce enemy barrage.
 A third force of planes, Consoli- dated CatalinS, bombed the air- drome runway and plane dispersal area at Buka, northernmost of the Solomon islands.
 Reconnaissance fortresses patrols ing over St. Georges channel, be- tween Rabaul and New Ireland is- lands in the BismarckS, shot down two of three intercepting Japanese fighters and drove of the other.
 In the fourth attack of big day. MacArthur's Lookheed Hudson me dium bombers destroyed 8 medium sized enemy merchantmen, damaged in previous attack, at Saumlakkis in the Tanimbar islands of the north Australian coast.
 In all these operations, unprece- den1eS ia MacArthurs territory, not single plane was lost.
 Contact Is Made
 On the land front, the Australians in the Owen Stanley mountains of New Guinea contacted enemy pa- trols for the first time since they started their drive from Ioribaiwa village, g air line miles from Port Moresby, more than one week ago.
 Contact was effected in the Ko- koda gap area, between Myola lake and village, on the Port Moreshy side, and Templeton;s crossing. which is just over the edge of the gap
 The enemy patrols were small and uncombative. dispatches from tha front reported. and 1t was indicated that the Australians would probe farther northward in light patrols in an attempt to determine how faz the enemy were prepared to ccn~ tinue their retreat.