The Wilmington morning star., 1944-11-11
FOUR CARGO ships
ALSO KNOCKED OUT
...,nued from Page One)

CONTINUED l'o'"
u.,k the ships from low level,
" i. s'a aumerous sinkings resulting.
W. Tse American aerial attack, tea
inc inc p.3s fighters and shore
srl ld Mitchell bonbers, was made
b'sea ~ nd determined japanese aeri-
thTousa action and extremely heavy
D ppl;vrcraft fire during the period
,n,ls'4a y. M, one day until 4 p.
D. .sorican aircraft were credit
j 1 WITH six Of the su nix s5 japanese 1sn
b. seventh -
..n,s Of up to five miles through
...aantains south and west OF Carl
1 a'ra was credited by the daily
~! !'.asn,,,niaue to the First cavalry
. 1,;,ion. unmentioned in COM
a a'vnioues for the last several days.
wv t,n' 24th infantry division, which
~. ..s horne the brunt of recent
aasfne along the mountainous
.s,d from Pinamopoan southwark
. m the last Japanese strong
wv WV" m Ormoc. continued pushing
award INV. despite desperate Japa-
,s,e counterattacks. The commu-
, rv said enem5 losses in these
eounterattacks were severe"
On the billy front near Patok;
The ssth division ran into heavy
o MI It's rate Of advance was
MT MI specified. The Seventh divi-
.ion, last reported moving north
m ormoc after crossing Leyte
trom east to west far south Of the
main battle lines, was still I'M
mentioned today, as for the past
several days.
Apparently, the advance of the
First cavalry division was flank
ine move to support the 24th's pain
nj drive down the Ormoc road.
Japanese positions there on the
billtops have given the infantry
men vicious resistance all the way
south from Pinamopoan to the u
shaped bend in the road at the
VILLAGE Of Limon, last inhabited
place mentioned in the communi-
cues. Today's announcement did
not place the First cavalry ad-
vance accurately.
In a field dispatch from head
quarters Of the U. S. Sixth army,
Spencer Davis, Associated Press
war correspondent, reported some
temporary reverses for the Amer
! leans which underlined the severi-
ty Of the fighting.
He said one unit of the oath di-
vision ran into trouble and had
| to retire. 1t was attempting a flank
attack when caught itself in vi
cious enemy thanking fire. That
was at the foot Of a ridge.
On the ridge, First cavalry.
troops had to fall back Thursday
night from a high position. Yes
terday it tried again and by night
fall the ridge was firmly in Yank
hands. 1ve
Suggesting there is more in the
report than meets the eye, Davis
said the First cavalry's five miles
were gained lin an officially I'm
dsclosable direction.
There was neither optimism or
pessimiSm at headquarters at the
announcement of the enemy's
success in running the air and ma
val blockade of Ormoc. While
the liberation forces far exceed
the enemy's, the advantage of the
surprise incursion of Leyte's east
ern coast was about dissipated.
All signs pointed to a sanguinary
battle for Ormoc. The enemy's es-
cape port on Leyte's western
coast The Japanese gradually
we're being crowded into a con-
fined area, raked day and night
by heavy artillery and Allied war
planes
Large fires, started by the bonn
bardment, ragged throughout Or
moe. Its usefulness as a supply
base for the enemy troops fight
ing in the hills to the north had
been greatly decreased" Mac
Arthur reported,