Imperial Valley press., 1943-11-19
GHOST SHIPS HIT FOE
ALLIED HEADQUARTERS.

ALLIED II FAD @ u AR T e r. S..
Southwest Pacific, Nov. 10. tUP)-
American warships came back
from the grave to which Tokyo
falsely assigned them to lombard
Buka island Wednesday while u. S.
forces scored new advances on
Bougainville after killing 500 more
Japanese troops, it was disclosed
today.
A light naval force slipped into
hostile waters without serious op-
position to carry out the before
dawn assault on the island which
lies off Borgainville at the north
ern end of the Solomons barely 1876
miles from The big japanese base
at Rabaul. New Britain.
Liberator and Mitchell bombers
launched the attack to blast Buka'S
strongholds between the U. S. Bou-
gainville beachhead, IS miles SOUTH
east, and Rabaul with a Cotton
attack Tuesday. Two hundred
parachute bombs were floated down
on enemy centers. chiefly Bonis
airdrome, while the warships eased
into the passage between Buka and
Bougainville.
PUNCTURES CLAIMS
The attack punctureS recent
Tokyo claims of having sunk or
damaged more than 100 American
fleet units off Bougainville-already
denied by American officials and
commanders. There were no de-
tails of the 10 minute lombard
ment, made by ships under Adm.
William F. HalSey's south Pacific
command.
Gen. Douglas MacArthur'S SpokcS-
men said u. S. marine and army
troops at the Empress Augusta bay
bcachhead on Bougainville west
coast extended their lines several
hundred yards on all fronts around
Cape Torokina Tuesday and We'd
nesday.
A communique set the enemy
death toll at 800 since the Nov. l
marine landing and since enemy
dead totaled only 800 up TO Nov. 10,
it was indicated heavy fighting had
taken place in recent days. The
beachhead was now some four miles
long. American losses totaled some
100 dead dispatch from Halsey'S
headquarters said.
AID GROUND FORCES
Dauntless divebombers struck at
enemy positions around Jaba river,
south of Torokina, on Tuesday TO
aid the ground forces. Three Jap
anese planes were shot down dur
ing a raid on Allied shipping which
cost one small vessel and some cas-
ualtieS.
On the Bougainville cast coast,
medium bombers and fighters hit
Kicta audrome and then ranged
southward. batterilIg several OBJ
jectives. sinking four barges and
damaging two other vessels. Three
of four planes failed to return,
the communique said.
Rabaul, scene of mass assaults by
Allied planes that took heavy toll
of enemy shipping, was hit by Aus
tralian Beauford bombers. They
concentrated on Lakunai airdromc
two and a half miles south of the
base.
CA Chungking radio broadcast
heard by the FEC said a huge"
japanese fleet had been seen sail
ing southwark off the China coast
"a possible indication the japanese
were rushing reinforcing units to
the south PacificD
OPEN ASSAULT
Australian infantrymen opened
an assault TO wipe out the japanese
at Satelberg, 10 miles northwest of
Finschhafen, captured base on New
Guineas HIon peninsula. Aus
tralian vengeance dive bombers
battered the enemy's positions as
the troops struck out to crush the
Japanese forces which have been
hemmed in for weeks.
At WeWak, on the New Guinea
northeast coast, Lightning fighters
shot down six japanese planes, los
ing two of their own, in a sky bat
tie with between so and 10 enemy
aircraft. Liberators bombed enemy
ccnterS at Sio, near Finschhafcn,