Evening star., 1944-10-18
Manila, Clark Field
And Port Reported
Hit by 80 Planes
By the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press.
PACIFIC FLEET HEADQUAR-
TIERS, Pearl Harbor, Oct. 49,
The steady drone of United
States carrier planes over the
Philippines and continuing
rain of bombs formed America s
answer today to Tokyo radio
boasts that the fleet had been
dealt an "annihilating" blow
and invasion of those islands
had been set back two months,
Admiral Chester w. Nimitz indi-
Gated the American units have no
present intention of breaking of
the Philippines attack by announc-
ing last night, without the limita-
ton of date:
Carrier aircraft of the Pacific
Fleet are continuing to attack OBJ
jectives in the Philippines"
Eighty American planes at
tackled Manila this morning
while others raided Clark Field
and Legaspi, the JapaneSe-c con- -
trolled Manila radio reported
today.
(The broadcast. intercepted by
:. the Federal Communications
Commission, said the Manila
raiders came in three waves
starting at 10 am. 10 pm Tues
day, Eastern war timel.
IT1o II ialI ir !,
west of Manila. Legaspi is
strategic port on Southeastern
LuZon, main island of the Phil
ippineS. Both were also listed
as targets yesterday.
(The japanese broadcast as
serted Is raiders were. shot
down.
Admiral Nimitz disclosed last
night that American troops of the
8lst Division had landed unopposed
September 20 and 81 in the Western
Carolines on Ulithi Atoll, whose
lagoon forms a good naval base. He
didn't say anything about it sooner
because he had reason to believe the
japanese didn't know about it.
Ulithi is about half way between
American invasion forces on Guam
and in the Southern Palaus.
Admiral Nimitz did not specify
the Philippine targets.
Gen. Douglas Macarthur an
nounced today his fighter planes
have flown from Southwest Pacific
bases northward all the way across
Mindanao to wipe out a japanese
convoy of 81 trucks and 6 staff cars,
disperSe cavalry troop and shoot
up airfeldS.
CThe sustained air attacks on
the Philippines found the Tokyo
radio toning down previous as
suranceS that the danger of i'm
mediate invasion was past.
The Federal Communications
Commission recorded this broad
cast observation last night:
cit cannot be thought that the
enemy, with this setback will
give up his plans for attacking
the Philippines.
CThe setback" was the claimed
sinking or damaging of more
than so American warships,
claim Admiral Nimitz repudiated
yesterday
800 Jap Planes Bagsed.
Actually the Japanese lost more
than 300 aircraft to American car
rier forces. And, Admiral NimitZ
said, the only part of the imperial
fleet that ventured out of hiding
turned and fled when it spotted
Admiral William F. Halseys power
full Sd Fleet Task Force still intact
despite sortieS by land-based Japa-
nese bombers and torpedo planes.
Admiral Nimitz gave no indica-
ton of the haven to which the
japanese warshlps fed. But the
areas in which they could be are
definitely restricted to waters the
other side of the Ryukyu-F -Formosa-
Philippines defense line. Some
Japanese surface units are known
to be in the South China Sea. and
there has been no indication the
imperial home feet has roamed
far away from Japan proper.
Last nights communisue said the
American troops landed September
20 on either side of the main en-
trance of Ulithi lagoon, then occu-
pied four islands the following day.
Opposition Lacking.
Lack of opposition, in sharp con-
trast with the fanatical fighting in
the Palaus, was somewhat surpris-
ing. inasmuch as Ulithi had been
used by the Japanese as a minor
naval base and for seaplane opera
tions. The main atoll is 10 miles long.
LOST.