Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-07-12
Aussies, Dutch Driving
On Borneo Oil Fields
Despite laps Stand
By the Associate ! Press.

~ ldt ASSURING Ttueo'
MANILA, July 12.-Australian
7th Infantry and Dutch colonial
troops advanced slowly today on
Borneo's rich Sambodja oil fields
despite the tough delaying action
being fought by beached Japa-
nese naval personnel in the
steaming, soaked equato-
rial forests.
About miles north of. the Balik-
papan town area, the AusSies, their
path cleared by P-38 fighters OF the
18th Army Air Force, which sprayed
a 12-mile area with jellied gasoline,
preached the outer lines of the jap
anese defense in an advance on
Smashed Stone" Ridge
The forward Aussie elements, in
driving 3-mile wedge into the Jap
anese positions, moved to within a
half mile of the ridge, Mount Bato-
champar, a 200-foot hill, on which
the Japs are well fortified.
Jap Attack RepuIsed.
On the central sector other Aus
sizes repulsed Japanese counterat-
tacks miles inland from the mouth
of the Sepinggang Ketjil River,
where the perimeter guards the Sep
inggang airfield.
Russell Brines, Associated Press
correspondent, reported the cap
tured Sepinggang field within 10
days of completion and its Japanese
built asphalt runways capable OF ex-
tension to 1900 feet.
Dutch airmen, plotting Mitchell
medium bombers, are ready to go into
operation from the field as soon as it
is completed.
On the right flank, the Austria
lians, fighting along the Single-lane
highway 51a miles northeast of cap
tured Manggar airfleld, received
both naval and aerial bombardment
support to smash japanese artillery
ana mortar fire. The Melbourne ra-
dio reported they had reached the
Adaj eranden River.
More than 40 5th Air Force Liber-
atorS pounded three west coast For
moSa airf1eldS in continuation of the
naturalization raids there, while in
oy-passed New Guinea the Australian
9Th Division has achieved greater
than half its detectives in Kidding
the big island of the enemy, Mel
bourne reported. The radio quoted
the army department as saying the
Aussies had counted the 6,000th dead
Japanese on New Guinea.
Mopup Continues.
Although in it's twilight, the mop
up campaign is still active as the
Yankees hunt down the close to
10000 Japanese still holding out
throughout the Philippines. On
Northern Luzon pocket of from
$4,000 to $4,000 Japanese are hold
ing out in the rugged Cordillera,
Central and Sierra Madre Noun
tains. The 9Th Infantry Division
reported the capture of an elaborate
enemy stronghold in the Kiangan
sector which had withStood artil-
lery, air apd infantry heavy weap-
ons assaults for days.
On investigation, the Red Star
infantrymen of Maj. Gen. Charles
Hurd found the position included 13
pillboXes, % interlocking entrench-
ments and caves as well as SO other
prepared positions. Some of the
foxholeS were to II feet deep and
tunneled back at the bottoms into
the hillside. Fronting the position
were five tank traps.
japanese who have been expelled
from the Cagayan Valley boarded
rice for months in the Sierra Madre
Mountains east of the valley. Hun
dreds of Filipino civilians were i'm
pressed to build caves and grass
shacks in the almost UNEMPLOYED
jungle lands east of Tuguegarao and
Apart on what may become another
Shimbu Line.
The Governor of the Cagayan
Province, Marcelo Adduru, who was
leading guerrilla in the Tugue-
garao area during the Japanese &C.
cupation, said the Japanese seldom
ventured across the west bank of
the Cagayan River because of the
effective work of the bolo brigades
peasants armed only with long
knives and crude gas pipes. They
were capable of dealing with any
enemy less than strong patrol
in force.