Evening star., 1944-01-27
I Jap Ships Sunk,
"a Planes Downed
In Raid on RabauI
1S Avengers Escorted
By 80 Fighters Score
Hit With Every Bomb
BY the Associated Press,

ADVANCED ALLIED HEAD
QUARTERS, New Guinea, Jan
27.-Making every bomb count
18 Avenger torpedo bombers
sank or left sinking seven ships
in the harbor at Rabaul Mon
day, while more than 80 escort
ing fighters shot down "a and
possibly % out Of go Japanese
intercepting planes.
A South Pacific spokesman, elab-
Grating today on an official head
quarters announcement on the raid,
said the fighters afforded the
Avengers such brilliant coverage
that the Japanese over their sup
posedly strong New Britain air base
got through for only one run at the
bombers.
Utilizing what the pilots call a
"side-splitting bombing from low
level glide" the Avengers sent their
,00O- pound bombs into the sides of
the ships at the warterline. Every
bomb hit a ship.
Japs Completely Surprised.
Four cargo ships and a tanker
were observed to sink. Three other
cargo ships were damaged severely
and naval spokesman said two OF
these were cleft sinking" Another
tanker also was damaged.
(Vern Haugland, Associated
Press war correspondent, reported
from Munda, New Georgia, in a
dispatch dated January "a, the
day of the raid, that the Avengers
were credited with destroying
1904 tons of enemy shipping.)
The raiders so completely sur
prised the Japanese, despite the fact
Rabaul has been pounded almost
daily this month, that antiaircraft
fire did not open up until after the
bombers' first run.
Only a dozen Japanese fighters
managed to get near the Avengers
which shot down two without loss
The fighter escort accounted for the
rest of the days bag, with Marine
1t. Robert Hanson of Newtonville
Mass, running his string to 10 by
downing four. One Allied fighter, a
Corsair, was lost, but the pilot was
saved.
Heaviest Blow This Month.
The sky battles ranged up to %, ,OOC
feet. Several types of Japanese
planes were encountered, including
the TOTO, fighter with a radial en-
gine and cigar shaped fuselage.
The raid was the third and heaviest
blow delivered this month against
japanese shipping at .Rabaul by
bombers based in the Solomons. On
January IA, seven cargo vessels, q
light cruiser and a destroyer were
damaged. Three days later, low
level bombers sank or severely dam
aged eight merchant ships.
The Monday bag of Japanese
planes ran enemy losses at Rabaul
this month beyond $50.
While the latest attack was In
progress, rescue planes not only
picked up the downed Corsair fight
er, but also saved Army 1t. Glen
Hart Of Verdon, Nebr., Lightning
pilot shot down January II, and
also the crew of an Avenger torpedo
bomber lost during a Rabaul raid
Sunday. The rescues actually in
creased the South Pacific air per-
sonnel roster over the previous day
by four.
Admiralty Islands Raided.
Headquarters also reported today
that on Tuesday the heaviest in q
growing series of raids against the
Japanese in the Admiralty Islands
in the Bismarck Archipelago, was
delivered by 5th Army Air Force
Mitchells and Lightnings. Eight
enemy fighters were destroyed or
the Lorengau airdrome, a jetty wa.
wrecked and a small freighter was
engulfed by flames in the harbor.
On the ground fighting scene
American invasion forces at Arawe
on New Britain's southwest coast
sent out patrols without contracting
japanese; at Bergen Bay, on the
northwest coast, the marines added
80 Japanese to the more than 5000
slain since the invasion there OPEN
| (see PACIFIC, Page A-5.)