Evening star., 1944-04-24

without even troubling to wear a
steel helmet.
The general made the Hollandia
landing in small barge while
shells still rumbled across Humboldt
Bay from the warships blasting
enemy positions in the jungles. A
flew hours later Gen. Macarthur
went ashore at Tanahmerah Bay,
despite signal from the beach that
japanese raiders were on their way
The enemy planes, however, did not
appear, apparently having been
driven off by a screen of American
|aircraft.
Gen. MacArthur's appearance
electrified the troops, who did not
suspect that the commander in chief
was within hundreds of miles. When
his landing barge pulled up on the
beach alongside the LISTS, the men
on the upper decks awaiting unload
ing orders shouted, Look, there's
Macarthur" Soldiers plodding
along the beach trails or holding
down fixed posts alongside the
sWamps stared, then saluted smartly
as Macarthur passed.
Inspects Food, Equipment.
At the Hollandia beachheads the
general walked more than 2 miles,
stopping every few moments to in
spect the vast quantities of food and
equipment abandoned by the JAP
anese when they fled to the hills
during the shelling. At Tanahmerah
ne walked along the jungle trail
until it ended in a morass where
bulldozers were seeking dry bottom.
Gen. Macarthur did not miss a
single detail of the entire davs
operations. Arriving on the cruiser S
Drldge before dawn, the general
watched the effect Of the shellinp
which paved the way for the troops
landing at Hollandia.
While others on the bridge bracec
themselves against the thunderous
volleys which shook the vessel yio-
lently, Gen. Macarthur stood calm.
ly, apparently unaware of the bis
guns flashes, the smoking gunpow-
der or the fumes.
Jap Stores Seized.
1t was a day of complete triumph
for the general Food still in the
plates of the officers at their quar-
tiers at Hollandia Beach showed the
Japanese had not expected the at
tack. They abandoned huge stores
including scores of uncrated plane
engines, bombs, plyWood belly tanks
tons of rice, hundreds of cases OF
foodstuffs and great piles of ammu.
milton. All this fell to the Amer.
leans without single casualty as
forward units prepared to blast their
way toward the three airfelds l:
miles distant.
Ihe forces at Tanahmerah quick
ly overcame scattered opposition
then started out on the 20-mile hike
toward the airfield in that section
BY the time Gen. Macarthur had
left that beach, advanced patrols
had already reached the halfway
point to their first goal.
Veterans at Aitape Landing.
Meanwhile, the general was re-
celying reports from his easterly in.
vaslon force. A strong force of vet
erans of the Sanananda and Sala-
maua campaigns smashed all resist.
ance outside Aitape. nearly $50 miles
TO the east, at negligible cost.
This was one of the best executed
Operations I have ever SEEN" Gen
Macarthur told his unit command.
ers today. you have the enemy
trapped now; don't let him 60"
Macarthur told newspapermer
today that in addition to the 10000
Japanese cut off from escape on New
Britain, New Ireland and the Solo.
mons, at least 10000 remain in New
Guinea, members of the enemv's
18th Army.
/ The general predicts desperate
local battles as the Japs seek te
break out of the trap, but says they
will not succeed, because they have
been split up into numerous isolated
groups.