Evening star., 1944-06-17
Poetic
Continued From First Pase.)

savage land battle after surviving
the fight for the beachhead and
with scant prospect Of q rapid
cleanup, such as Is possible in atoll
warfare"
He said "the casualties on saipan
were not expected to equal the
TarawA figures but assault battalions
suffered material losses and the
Japanese were still throwing NOR
tars-their favorite weapon-into
the beachhead area"
After the intense battleship bonn
bardment and the 100-ton bombing
by carrier planes had forced the
Japs back from the beaches, the
Yanks landed on both sides Of
Charan-Kanoa on 6aipan's SOUTH
west coast, $500 miles from Tokyo.
The enemy evacuated Charan-
Kanoa1 5000 civilians but Mr..
Johnston said they left behind .
strong rear guard which had to be
Cleaned out In the first Pacific
fighting comparable to Ellrope's
house toulouse encounters"
Main Town Being Shelled.
Summarizing the situation, he re-
ported the CharAn.Kanoa airstrip
has been won but still Is under
enemy mortar fire; on the south end
OF the beachhead, Americans opened
- powerful attack today which car
ried them close to the Aslito air.
drome";; on the north end. less than
5 miles below 0arapan, that main
town on saipan was subjected to
day-long American artillery fire.
Thanks to the preparatory strikes
against dozens Of Japanese bases IN
the Caroltnes, Nippon was unable
to send Aloft . single plane TO inter-
fere with landing operations" Mr..
Johnston praised.
Admiral Chester w. Nimitz an
nounced last night that the Amerf-
cans recoiled from an earlier re-
verse to score their hard-won sue
cess at Charan.Kanoa. Then he
added this cautious note:
Our assumption that Saipan Is
land would be strongly held because
Of its strategic location In the Japa-
nese defense system has been proven
correct. Preliminary estimates indi-
cate there are upwards Of two divi-
sions Of enemy troops defending
SaipAn."
Two divisions nominally total
$4,000 men. No ofIlcial mention has
been made Of the invaders strength,
but Tokyo radio estimated It at
one division, $1,000 men.
Reinfercements Blocked.
Earlier Admiral NiInitz disclosed
that on the day Of the invasion q
task force moved between the Mari
anas and Japan; presumably to
block any reinforcement move from
that direction, and sent out carrier
planes against the Kazan and Bonin
Islands.
The strike at the Bonins, 58S
miles from Yokohama. probably en-
tailed task force approach closer
to Japan than the one made to
launch Doolittle's raiders on Tokyo
in 1912.
Report Of the BONN raid afforded
this complete picture Of q huge CO.
ordinated effort:
Kuriles - Shelled and bombed
Monday and Tuesday by q task
force.
Japan-Raided Thursday by
China-based B-29s, reported to have
knocked out one-fifth Of Japan s
steel industry at Yawata.
Bonin and Kazan Islands
Bombed Wednesday by . second
carrier plane task force.
Western Carolines Bombed.
Marianas - First attacked last
Saturday by yet another task force
which turned the operation into an
invasion Wednesday.
Western Carolines-Cratered by
Gen. Douglas MacArthur's New
Guinea -based Liberators to prevent
enemy airfelds at Yap, Woleai and
Palau from sending planes north
west to Saipan.
Toxic radio, first announcing the
attacks on Chichi and Haha in the
Bonins and Two in the Kazan group,
claimed more than II" raiders were
shot down, but Admiral Nimitz
listed the cost as four planes and
five airmen.
The enemy air and shipping
losses raised the total Of planes de-
stroyed there and in the Marianas
since Saturday above 100 and the
ships sunk to 16. The task force
achieved such surprise in the Bon
ms that carrier planes caught a
transport moving toward the raid
ing fleet. An American destroyer