Evening star., 1943-11-11
Nazis Scutt|e Ships> Blast Docks
Hinting Plans to Abandon Rome;
Bouqainvi|le Reinforced by U.S..
Bottle Tide Turns
As Worships Land
Additional Troops

VS VO'Sis'PS 1NuO
Additional Troops
BY the Associated Press.
SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AL
LIED HEADQUARTERS, Nov. II.
Powerful reinforcements of
Regular United States Army
troops. landed without loss from
warship-- guarded transports,
fought today alongside the
spearhead of marines on Bou-
gainville against badly decimated
Japanese.
The tide of jungle battle-a welter
Of tanks, mortars and camouflaged
men contending in the roughest type
of terrain-sWung definitely toward
the invaders of that last big Solo
mons island protecting the japanese
fortress of Rabaul.
Our Bougainville operations were
successful beyond our fondest ex-
pectations," said Rear Admiral Rob-
ret B. Carney of Washington, D. c.,
after watching the soldiers swarm
ashore and after seeing an enemy
raiding airforce lose 26 out of so
dive bombers and fighters without
sinking one of the ships in the con-
voy.
All Ships Return to Base.
Bombs damaged one transport but
Admiral Carney emphasized that
no boat was laid up and all the
ships got back to base"
CThis naval operation, in wa
ters only 260 miles southeast of
Jap warships at Rabaul, af-
forded striking contrast to
Toxic broadcasts that Sc Allied
vessels have been sunk recently,
that it was Japan's biggest tri-
umph since Pearl Harbor" and
that Admiral Mineichi Koga had
been congratulated for his "over-
whelming sea and air victories"
1n New York last night, Sec
retary of the Navy Knox said,
Our feet in the Pacific is SO
powerful that the Jap hasn't got
the courage to come out in the
open. -
The Army reinforcements landed
Monday at Empress Augusta Bay.
At that time, japanese troops which
went ashore the day before from
21 barges north of that beachhead
to join with forces on the south in
a pincers operation, had begun to
infiltrate American lines.
$50 Japs Slain.
The Army units helped the ma
rines' counterattack Monday. Two
hundred and fifty Japs were esti-
mated by Admiral Carney to have
been slain in fighting Sunday and
Monday.
Tuesday the reinforced marines
went over to the offensive. They
smashed the Japanese near the La
ruma River mouth. where they had
landed two days before after sneak
ing down on the barges from Buka.
In that clash Tuesday, Gen. Douglas
MacArthur's spokesman said today,
$50 enemy soldiers were slain. The
spokesman estimated that at least
half the barge-borne Japs had been
accounted for.
But Admiral Carney, who is Ad-
miral William F. Halsey's chief of
staff in the Solomons sector, said
the Japanese remained very aggres-
sive and probably were continuing
to reinforce by barges their holdings
on both the north and south ends
of the beachhead
Maj. Gen. Roy S. Geiger of Pensa-
cola, Fla, of the marines, now is
in command. He has succeeded 1t.
Gen. Alexander A. Vandegrift, re-
leased for other duties.
Raid Fails to Delay Unloading.
Mondays big air raid by japanese
planes sent down from Rabaul-
Bougainville bases have been
bombed out and no enemy planes
operate there-came while the
transports we're only partially un-
loaded. While the ships put to sea
Allied interceptors and antiaircraft
batteries tore into the go raiders.
Eight American planes were lost in
the 45-minute free-for-all
I'VE lost no time in our unload
ing schedule" Admiral Carney said
later, "the ships unloading quickly
after the raid"
japanese planes returned that
night to attack the base bound con-
voy, but storm clouds protected the
transports and the warship's ack-
ack drove of the raiders, downing
several.
Gen. MacArthur's reports today
listed the losses of Ct enemy planes
in his and Admiral Halsey's COM
mand areas. Among these were 81
planes destroyed on the ground and
IA shot out of the, air during a
heavy Allied smash Tuesday by
Mitchells, A-20s, Pals and P-38s
against enemy air reinforcements
at Alexishafen in the Madang Sec
tor of Northeastern New Guinea.