The Waterbury Democrat., 1944-06-16
B-29 Raids Wreck
 Japs' Factories
(Continued from Page D

planes were shot down and three were damaged. A Japanese Imperial headquarters communique said that the industrial cities of Moji and Kokura were hit in addition to Yaw- ata. All are on the home island of Kyushu, across from Korea on the Asiatic mainland.
 GA dispathc from United Press staff correspondent Walter Rundle, at an advance Echelon of the 20th Bomber Command in western China, said the B-29's flying on history's longest raid, set the Imperial Iron and Steel Mills Atyawata on fire and that returning crew members described the raid as most success ful~
 The air force cornmunique said:
 "A sizeable task force of B-29's from the 20th bomber command bombed industrial targets at Yaw- ata on Kyushu Island in the Jap- anese homeland on Thursday, June IS.
 Preliminary reports reveal that although enemy aircraft were en- countered and anti-aircraft was moderate to intense, none of the planes was lost as result of en- emy action. Flyers who participated in the mission report the bombing was accurate and that large fires and explosions were observed.
 China Bases
 '"The planes operated from bases in China which were completed re- gently. Two B-29s were lost as the result of acicdentS, one crew of which iS.ssafe. This communique is based on preliminary incomplete re- ports from the combat zone."
 An American eyewitness report of the attack, broadcast from Chung king a few hours after Japanese broadcasts had told of new U. s. raids on Korea and the Borin 1s-. lands, said the B-29's wroght great devastation on their targets.
 Roy Porter, representing the com bined U. s. radio networks on the B-29's first major offensive opera ton, said the Chungking broadcast that the super heavyweights dropped tons and tons" of bombs which left great masses of wreckage among industrial targets. He said some of the big planes did not return.
 GA Japanese Imperial headquar- ters communique had identified the B-29's targets as the industrial cit- ies of Yawata, Moji and Kokura, all on the home Island of Kyushu across from Korea on the Asiatic mainland.)
 New Raids
 The new raids, not immediately confirmed by any other source. were described sketchily by the Japanese Domei news agency. It said enemy planes" hit Korea but did not iden- tify them further. It added that the Japanese suffered no losses.
 The attack on the Bonin Islands, SIS miles south of Tokyo, was car- ried out by an enemy task force," Tokyo broadcast said, and 17 planes were shot down. By task force Tokyo presumably meant an aircraft carrier force.
 Porter's account of the B-29 said the Americans suffered some losses and the Japanese poured rain of anti-aircraft fire into the air and that bullets and shell fragments hit the big bombers.
 "But," he added, "the engines kept turning and nearly all the ships came home"
 Porter identified the target as the Imperial Steel and Iron Works at Yawate in northern Kyushu.
 Initial Attacks
 Porter's account seemed to indi- cate that the B-29 attack was car- ried out in waves. The initial at- tacks," he said, caught the enemy by surprise. In later phases, how ever. the Japanese threw both an ti-aircraft fire and night fighter planes" at the Americans.
 The B-29's which reported back to their bases, Porter said. showed bullet holes "but very little material damage"
 Porter's broadcast also revealed that the Giants had made a pre- limonary raid last week on Bang kok. capital of Japanese-occupied Siam.
 The enemy-reported task force raid was against the Bonin islands of Chichi lima and Two lima, Tokyo radio said.
 The enemy minimized the B-29 attack on Kyushu.
 The Japanese imperial headquar- ters communique broadcast by the Tokyo radio claimed that the att tack on Kyushu, southernmost in the Japanese home group, was made by about 20 B-29s and B-24 Libera- tors. and other Tokyo reports as- serted that seven of the raiders were shot down. The initial War De- partment announcement said only that B-29s had bombed Japan and made no mention of Liberators.
 Tokyo Admits
 Tokyo radio admitted that the American planes had dropped bombs on Yawata, home of the great Im- v.awan1 e1&Aal 1.nr,nIra am xnrn1l oa Mali