Evening star., 1944-01-28
Desperation Draws
laps Into Air Battle
Over MarshaIIs
By the Associated Press,

By the Associated Press.
PEARL HARBOR, Jan. 2S.-Strat-
egy seemingly born Of desperation
drew topfiight Japanese fighter
pilots into the biggest battle OF the
mounting United States air. of1en-
sive against the Marshall Islands
and cost the enemy 16 to ~ planes.
Not an American4plane was lost.
Admiral Chester w. Nimitz an
nounced last night that the big ac-
ton occurred Wednesday, the 2lst
consecutive day of attack on the
invasion-menaced Marshalls by
Navy and Army airmen.
The fight grew out of a 7th Army
Air Force attack on Taroa air field
on Maloelap. Atoll. Nine Mitchell
bombers over the base ran into 20
intercepting zeros. Eleven, pos
sibly II, Zeros went down. The
speedy Mitchell medium bombers
retired, but another group of Zeros
pursued. Seventh AAF fighters
joined with the bombers In the en-
suing fight. Five more enemy ships
were shot down for certain and nve
were listed as probables.
Attacked at Low Level.
The Mitchells ran into this sig
niflcant fight after going in at Is
to-50-foot level and raking the
Japanese with 75-mm. shells and
machine guns. The fight was sig
niflcant because it marked the first
attempt of Japanese airmen, since
concentrated raids began on the
Marshalls, to pursue retiring air.
craft. Their new strategy may be
4 desperate measure to halt the
mounting damage to their Central
Pacific bases. @
Correspondents could not recall
that Admiral Nimitz had previously
issued two such press releases in
one day on the Marshalls campaign
As he did yesterday.
The first announcement told of
United States airmen extending
their Marshall assaults to the
groups northwesternmost atoll,
Eniweteks- .-..- --,...
There, on the Goth straight day
OF the attack, Navy flyers severely
damaged and may have sunk an oil
tanker and sank one of her two
escort ships.
Jap Losses Rise to zoo.
With the 16 to % planes shot
down Wednesday, Japanese plane
losses over this group of Mid Pacific
islands mounted to more than 200.
American losses are put at % planes.
Nearly third of the Japanese loss
was suffered over Maloelap. In the
week ended January Is Mitchell
bombers dropped 1921 tons of
bombs on the Marshalls.
:. The attack on Eniwetok Atoll
shipping, carried out by Navy flyers,
was the first mentioned in reports
from Admiral Nimitz's headquarters.
Entwetok. at the northwest extrem-
1ty OF the Marshalls, lies some 1,4O0
miles southwest of Pearl Harbor. It
Is a small nearly-circular atoll CEN
tered on longitude 162 degrees IS
minutes east and latitude IL degrees
80 minutes north. 49, 7
Seventh Army Air Force planes
attacked oft-bombed Kwajalein,
Maloelap and Mill Atolls. Heavy
bombers delivered IS tons on Kwa-
jaletn and set installations afire.
No enemy planes rose to combat and
no American planes were lost.
Taroa and MaloeIap Blasted.
Medium bombers, the announce
ment continued, hit Taroa on
Maloelap, Tuesday. bombing air.
drome facilities and wrecking al
grounded enemy bomber. Here
about 80 enemy japanese fighters
came up. One was shot down, three
more possibly were knocked down
and others were damaged. All
American planes returned.
Dive bombers and fighters struck
at Mill without air opposition and
without loss, and started fires
among ground installations.
The attacks Tuesday and We'd
nesday brought to 113 the total of
raids on the Marshalls since the
GilbertS fell last November.