Evening star., 1944-01-20
Allied Flyers Sink
3 Big Merchantmen
In RabauI Harbor
By the Associated Press.

! By the Associated Press
ADVANCED ALLIED HEAD
QUARTERS, New Guinea, Jan.
20.-Forty Allied torpedo bomb
ers and dive bombers covered by
go fighters smashed through
heavy Japanese plane intercept
ton and antiaircraft fire to sink
three big merchant ships and
damage Ave more in Simpson
Harbor at Rabaul, New Britain.
More than 100 enemy planes tan
gled with the raiders In the as
sault Monday, Gen. Douglas Mac
Arthur's communique said today.
Eighteen of the Japanese planes
were knocked down for sure and
probably IS more. Allied losses were
10 fighters. dive bomber destroyed
by ack-ack and torpedo plane.
Besides the three ships which
were seen to blow apart and sink,
two others were left burning and
probably sinking while three more
were seriously damaged, the COM
munique said. Some returning pilots
expressed belief six ships were sunk.
Attack Made at Low Level.
Pitching their attack at low level,
the Allied planes hurled 1000 and
1000 pound bombs to score hits on
every vessel in the harbor. The
planes came from fields recently
coro plntad m Rouoo ;py;llo ~ $ba
Solomons. and pilots described the
assault as the most devastating air
blow ever made by land based
planes at the enemy's big base.
Japanese imperial headquar-
ters version of the raid, as re-
| ported by Toxic radio, said
! around 200 American planes came
over Rabaul, and l02 OF them
were shot down. but the raiders
sank two vessels.)
Three japanese destroyers, which
circled crafty In evasive maneuvers,
were not attacked. and the Allied
airmen were unable to get to four
other merchantmen sighted In Ke-
ravia Harbor to the south. Anti
aircraft guns mounted on barges
spaced at the mouth of Simpson
Harbor added to the hazards OF the
attack.
! Allied air raids on Rabaul harbor
and airflelds since January ! have
cost the japanese l52 planes shot
down with ~ more probables and
IL merchant vessels sunk or left
in a sinking condition, against the
loss Of 80 Allied planes.
Japs Hurled Back At Gloucester.
But the vigor of enemy inter-
ception Monday drew a headouar-
ters spokesmans comment that
I'VE can't be lulled into the false
sense of security that the Jap is
deteriorating."
At Cape Gloucester, on the north
western coast of New Britain
American marines who captured
strategic Hill $50 Friday hurled back
an enemy counterattack before dawn
Monday, adding l26 more japanese
dead to the approximately 5000
counted there since the invasion
December 26
Secretary Of War Stimson said
today that sinking OF several
troop-laden enemy barges" indi-
Gates the japanese may be at
tempting to escape from North
ern New Guinea by night as their
resistance there cola pses. He
said Allied troops were making
steady progress throughout the
Southwest Pacific.
In New Britain. Allied troops
are constantly enlarging their
! beach heads. the Secretary re-
| ported. He said that in the Cape
Gloucester area 3.100 japanese
dead have been counted against
American losses of 22s killed and
694 wounded)
American Army troops at Empress
Augusta Bay on Bougainville crossed
Torokina River to the north of the
bay under artillery support and
seized new positions near East
Lagoon.
| Liberator heavy bombers pounded
enemy supply points and airfields
| In the Hansa Bay and Madang
areas on the northeast coast of New
Guinea, while medium bombers
struck japanese positions inland
along the Upper Faria River and
on Bogadjim road, dropping IS tons