Evening star., 1945-05-13
Big Mindanao Airbase
SheIIed as Yanks Push
"A Miles From Beach
By the Associated Press.

MANILA, Sunday, May 13.-The
big Japanese Del Monte airdrome
in North Central Mindanao, Philip
pines, came under the guns of the
American 10th Division Friday, Gen.
Macarthur announced today, after
the Yanks made a 14-mile advance
from their invasion beachhead.
Elements of Maj. Gen. Rapp
Brush's division, which landed at
Macajalar Bay Thursday and ad-
vanced four miles the first day,
pushed south along Sayre Highway,
taking the Alae road junction and
reaching point 60 miles from the
31st Division which Is fighting
northward along the same road.
Skillful air support made the
work of the doughboys easy.
Thirteenth Air Force planes fire.
bombed the Japanese positions
flanking the road, driving the en-
emy back while Yank infantrymen
dashed in and captured machine
gun and mortar Notifications.
Japs Developed Airfield.
Del Monte is the site of the big
gest pineapple plantation in the
Pacific, outside of Hawaii, and has
been developed into a formidable
air base by the japanese.
Maramag Airfield was secured by
the 3lst, the communique said.
Meanwhile, the American oath
Division fighting north of Davao
city near the Eastern Mindanao
coast repulsed several Japanese
night counterattacks and pushed
the Japanese into the hills between
the Talomo and Davao Rivers.
Yank and guerrilla forces fight
ing in the mountains of the Ma
Mia watershed in East Central Lu-
zon are within miles of closing
their pincers on Japanese forces in
the vicinity of Ipo Dam.
Naval units patrolling the east
coast of Luzon destroyed several
japanese small craft, and American
bombers and fighters plastered all
Japanese holdout defenses on the
island with $50 tons of explosives.
Tarakan Drive Pushed.
Australian and Dutch forces
pressing the invasion of Tarakan
Island, petroleum center off the
northeast coast of Borneo. advanced
l mile north of the Djoeata oil
fields, meeting only scattered Jap
anese resistance. These Allied forces
already have cleared one oil field of
the enemy and taken an airf1eld.
Allied planes continued their
shattering blows at japanese in
stallations and shipping around
Borneo's coasts, heavy bombers
striking barracks and shipyards at
Balikpapan on the southeast coast
and starting fires in the Brunei
Bay area on the northwest shore.
Widespread destruction on For
mosa resulted from blows by Philip
pine-based bombers and fighters,
which staged low level night attacks
on Taihoku factories, and then came
in for daylight raids on plants at
Kari, Okayama, Kagi and Mato.
Railways and rolling stock also
were hit
Canton Area Raided.
japanese airf1elds near Canton
were put under aerial attack for the
second straight day with 1875 tons
Of bombs.
Shipping and rail lines from
Shanghai south into French Indo-
China, where the vital japanese
naval base at Saigon has been vir-
tually destroyed, also were attacked
Japanese shipping losses in the
aerial sweeps included two freight
ers left afire off Formosa, a 1,000-ton
freighter-transport and four river
boats set afire and several luggers
wrecked off China and a freighter
and several schooners damaged in
the Lesser Sundas.
The Australian drive on Wewak.
japanese base on the New Guinea
east coast, was accelerated with
the landing of 9Th Division units
east of the city. Other units of
the Aussie division are approaching
Wewak from the east.
Gen. Macarthur said Royal Aus
tralian Navy and air units, and
American Army Air Force planes
supported operations in the Wewak
sector.
The drive on Wewak, by-passed in
earlier Allied offensives toward the
Philippines. is aimed at seizure of
the city and capture of air strips.
Maj. Gen. Ennis C. Whitehead,
commander of the 5th Air Force,
expressed belief that repeated at
tacks on Saigon had practically put
that former French naval base out
of commission. 1t had been used
by the japanese as shipping re-
pair base.