THE THAYNE REPORTS: THE ADMIRAL'S EDITION

[Thayne]

THE THAYNE REPORTS: THE ADMIRALS' EDITION
February 25, 1942 - Allies Launch 100-Bomber Raid

The Thayne Reports are published by allied intelligence and distributed to senior officers serving in the Pacific Theater of Operation in order to give these officers an understanding of the overall military situation. These top secret reports contain the best and most up-to-date information available at the time of their writing. Revealing any of the contents of these reports will be punished as treason.


Burma Gets 100-Bomber Raid

(TRH) As the Japanese have moved into Burma, the allies have practiced a type of scorched earth policy. Whenever anything useful falls into Japanese hands, the allies send airplanes in to destroy it.

Yesterday, the Magwe region of central Burma fell into Japanese hands. Today, the allies sent over 100 bombers - half of them heavy bombers - to destroy its airfields and infrastructure.

The bombers took off from three airfields in India; Calcutta, Dacca, and Dimapur in far north eastern India. Dimapur had been launching its bombers against the Japanese units advancing on Magwe. This time, it joined in the attacks on Magwe itself.

It proved difficult to coordinate the attacks of so many different airfields sending so many different types of planes. By the end of the day, Magwe had been attacked by B-17D and E model heavy bombers, LB-30 Liberators, Blenheim bombers, and Hudson I and IIIa bombers. Yet, by the end of the day, 115 bombers did find Magwe, and the encountered no resistance in the attack.

Unfortunately, the pilots are getting tired. And, tired or not, they have a new target. Today, the Japanese forces have captured the airbase at Toungoo in south-central Burma. This was the former training ground for the American Volunteer Group. It will now become the target of the American heavy bomber groups.

Our Thayne Reporter in Burma has more on developments in Burma.


The Battle for Burma: A War Diary - Day 25
Bypassing Meitkila

[font="Courier New"] (Mandalay, Burma) Scouts report that the Japanese force that recently entered the Magwe region in central Burma are trying once again to encircle and cut off a set of allied units. This time their target is the garrison at Meitkila, south of us here at Mandalay.

The Meitkila region is being garrisoned by the 9th Burma Rifles Battalion and the Railway BAF Battalion.

After capturing the Magwe region, Japanese armor has since been spotted going north, following the Irrawaddy River, which will curve right and bring the Japanese straight into Mandalay.

Anticipating this possibility, the British government has made preparations to redeploy the soldiers in Meitkila to the north side of the Irrawaddy River. They should be in position before the Japanese arrive at Mandalay.

The next question being asked around British headquarters is whether the units garrisoning Mandalay should retreat across the river or remain here. Lieutenant General Donald MacLeod seems to have made a decision to send his headquarters and the heavier guns across the river before the Japanese get here, but he intends to give some resistance to the Japanese entering Mandalay. His one goal is to make sure that any troops holding Mandalay have an escape route.

Earlier today, we received news from scouts further south that the Japanese have occupied the airfield at Toungoo. At one point, the British were planning to try to lock Japan in southern Burma by building a defensive wall at Toungoo. However, when Japan demonstrated just how easily they could march around that wall, the British withdrew.

The force being built up on the north side of the Irrawaddy River here is really the last line of defense for Burma. It is no exaggeration to describe that defense as Burma's last stand. If Japan gets across the Irrawaddy in strength, then all of Burma shall be theirs.[/font]


Allied Air Reinforcements to India Still Weeks Away

(TRH) While Burma falls to the Japanese and pilots in eastern India exhaust themselves trying to deny Japan the use of Burma's infrastructure, relief and reinforcements are still weeks away.

When the Combined Chiefs of Staffs decided to pursue what they adopted as The China Option - a plan to pursue the war against Japan by launching an assault across northern Burma, into friendly China, and through to Hong Kong - they ordered a medium bomber group and a pursuit group to eastern India to aid in the air war against Japan.

Now, over six weeks later, with Japan gobbling up huge portions of Burma every day, those promised reinforcements are still weeks away.

The first of those reinforcements are on ships that will not arrive in India until mid March. Even after the ships dock, their cargo will have to be loaded up and shipped across India, unloaded, and assembled.

Military transportation experts are telling Thayne News that we should not expect these extra units to start entering service until the second half of March at the earliest, and it will take until May before the two air groups are operating at full strength.

These facts highlight the most serious problem with the China option - the difficulty in getting soldiers and supplies to such a distant front.

However, the Combined Chiefs continue to support the decision - mostly because of the flexibility that it offers in responding to the needs of a two-front war. Once established in India, air groups fighting Japan can be easily re-deployed into North Africa against the Germans, and then back to India, as they are needed.


J.R. MacKenzie - The First Fighter Ace of the Pacific

(TRH) The air war in western Java has produced the first fighter ace of the Pacific Theater for the allies in the form of a young pilot from New Zealand, J.R. MacKenzie.

MacKenzie is one of the colonial pilots who joined the war back in 1939 when England called for support in its war with Germany. He was then stationed in Singapore where he was helping to defend the far reaches of the British empire, allowing England to call many of its own soldiers and pilots back to England.

In Singapore, MacKenzie did not have much of an opportunity to fly against Japanese pilots. Japan refused to challenge the Allies for control of the air over Singapore. Instead, it trusted to its army to take the island.

Freed from the threat of Japanese airplanes, MacKenzie joined Singapore's fighter squadrons in attacking the Japanese ground forces nearing the city. His missions involved bombing bridges and strafing ground troops.

With defeat imminent in Singapore, 488 squadron was given orders to transfer to Batavia in western Java to add its strength to that of the Dutch defenders.

In Java, MacKenzie has found the opportunity to put his skills up against those of the best Japanese pilots available - those of the Japanese carrier force.

MacKenzie himself is flying the Buffalo fighter planes produced by the Brewster Aeronautical Corporation. Many of the pilots flying in Java have dubbed these airplanes "the flying coffin" due to their poor performance. Representatives at Brewster defend their airplane in part by pointing to the accomplishments of pilots such as J.R. MacKenzie.

As the number of airplanes in Java diminish, its best pilots are being loaded onto submarines and taken to Australia. Once in Australia, they will await transfer to some other unit. With luck, in a few weeks, Japan will get an opportunity to see what J.R. MacKenzie can do in a more modern airplane.

[Thayne]

THE THAYNE REPORTS: THE ADMIRALS' EDITION
February 26, 1942 - Port Moresby Falls

The Thayne Reports are published by allied intelligence and distributed to senior officers serving in the Pacific Theater of Operation in order to give these officers an understanding of the overall military situation. These top secret reports contain the best and most up-to-date information available at the time of their writing. Revealing any of the contents of these reports will be punished as treason.


Japanese Capture Port Moresby, New Guinea

(TRH) In one lighting attack, Japan drove the defenders out of Port Moresby, New Guinea, claiming its port and airfield for the Japanese Empire. Thayne Report has not heard from our Port Moresby correspondent since the attack began. We will give you updates as soon as we are able.

Immediately after the news of Port Moresby's rapid capture reached Australia, the Australian government enacted a series of emergency provisions.

First, the government ordered that steps be taken to rescue as many soldiers as possible who retreated from Port Moresby and into the jungle. It ordered two seaplane squadrons currently ferrying supplies to Timor north of Darwin to Cairnes. From Cairnes, they will search the coast of New Guinea for signs of Australian refugees, attempt to land, and attempt to return them to Australia.

Second, the Australian government declared all of northern Australia to be a war zone and ordered the evacuations of all civilians from those areas not involved in matters of concern to the military. Special permits to stay in the region would be given to volunteers involved in enterprises such as hospitals and medical care, construction, telephone and broadcast, and infrastructure such as longshoremen and mechanics. All civilians have been ordered to either obtain special permission to remain or to move into southern Australia. The effected area consists of everything north of a line from Bowen on the east coast to Geraldton on the west coast.

These measures compliment orders already given at the first sign of the Japanese landings to move military units up into north eastern Australia. Those troop movements are currently underway.

With the fall of Port Moresby, Australia is once again calling for the return of its troops currently stationed in Ceylon. A series of emergency communications have been flowing between the offices of the Prime Minister in Australia and Great Brittain and the Office of President of the United States. By a previous agreement, Australia's army is to be stationed on the island of Ceylon to defend Australia's eastern supply lines unless Japanese troops land on Australia itself.


Nimitz Orders Attack on Esprito Santo

(TRH) Commander in Chief of the Pacific, Admiral Chester Nimitz, has ordered his officers to prepare and execute an attack on Japanese shipping around the island of Esprito Santo in the New Hebrides chain. Espirito Santo is about 300 miles north of Tanna, the lone garrisoned allied base in the New Hebrides islands.

Nimitz gave this order at the instruction of President Franklin Roosevelt in response to the Japanese capture of Port Moresby.

Members of Nimitz staff told the Thayne Report that the main objective of this mission is to generate positive stories to put into the press concerning the war efforts. Their goal is to boost the morale of the American and, in particular, the Australian public. It is hoped that the news would mitigate the blow of the rapid loss of Port Moresby and the Japanese threat to northern and northeastern Australia.

Specifically, the Navy Department has been ordered to gather footage of American and British battleships bombarding Japanese forces at Esprito Santo. The battleships participating in the mission are Colorado, New Mexico, Mississippi, and the British battleship Warspit.

One staff member reported, "On purely military considerations, this mission is not worth the supplies that it will use up, let alone the risk to our carriers and pilots. It was ordered precisely and specifically as a propaganda resopnse to the news of the Japanese capture of Port Moresby."

Part of the risk of this mission springs from the presence of two Japanese fleet carriers that battled the allied carriers Lexington and Yorktown near New Caledonia last week. Lexington, damaged in that attack, is being recalled from its mission to return to Pearl Harbor for repairs to participate in the Espirito Santo raid.

The Japanese carriers are currently south of Tanna, where they launched a strike against the forces on that island.

If the Americans end up confronting the Japanese carrier force again, it will have three advantages over the last encounter. First, the allies are bringing three carriers to the Espirito Santo raid - Yorktown, Saratoga, and the previously damaged Lexington. Second, the two Japanese carriers both took some damage in the previous battle. Third, the Japanese air groups have lost planes both in the first carrier battle and in its recent attack on Tanna (see below).

On the other hand, military intelligence experts tell Thayne Report that it is possible that Japan may have also moved more carriers into the area since the first battle.


Bataan Defenders Inflict Heavy Casualties Again Japanese Attack

(TRH) The Japanese army launched its first full-scale attack against the defenders of Bataan in the Philippine Islands, reportedly suffering heavy casualties and making little headway against the allied defenders.

In reports coming out of Bataan, the Philippine army is estimated to have inflicted about 2,500 casualties against the enemy at a loss of only 150 allied soldiers. The defenses and fortifications built up since the war began held up fully against the enemy attack.

The greatest casualty on the allied side was the expenditure of ammunition. The allied forces, already short of ammunition, had to worry about conserving their few remaining stores as much as possible. Some of the defensive guns are reported to have fired their last shell.


Allied Air Forces Score Victories at Tanna and Java

(TRH) Allied air forces managed to outmaneuver Japanese carrier-based air squadrons in two widely spearated battles yesterday, destroying between 18 and 25 Japanese carrier-based bombers as a result.

Our Thayne Reporter at Tanna has the story of the first of these two battles, while our Thayne Reporter at Batavia, Java, presents the second story.


[font="Courier New"]Tanna Fighters Maul Jap Air Strike

(Tanna - New Hebrides) I stood in the radio room at the headquarters of the 39th pursuit squadron as six P-39 fighters flying combat air patrol were dispatched to intercept an incoming wave of Japanese airplanes.

As our pilots closed, they reported seeing at about a half-dozen enemy Zero fighters.

All of us present knew what had happened when the fighter squadrons of Lexington and Yorktown tangled with Japanese carrier-based fighters. To the best of our recollection, the Japanese shot down twelve allied airplanes for every plane they lost in the air.

As the dogfight started, we immediately had visions of the same thing happening here. The Japanese pilots shot down three of P-39s in rapid succession. The planes burst into flames dove into the ocean with no sign of a parachute.

The remaining pilots turned and headed for the nearest cloud cover.

Then those pilots reported back that the Japanese were chasing them, and leaving the bombers behind.

Our standby combat air patrol was just taking off at that moment. Lieutenant Colonel Everett Greer directed the pilots to the incoming bomber formations. Our pilots were able to take on the incoming bombers without any interference from Japanese fighters.

The result was somewhere between five and eight enemy planes shot down or heavily damaged. The enemy bombers released their payload at a height of over 20,000 feet. The enemy bombs landed well short of the Tanna base, inflicting no damage.

At the end of the day, the survivors celebrated the fact that they were alive while they remembered those who had died. The mechanics are hard at work repairing the airplanes that were damaged, while headquarters in Suva arrange to fly replacement planes and pilots to us as soon as possible.


Java Fighters Outmaneuver Japanese Carrier Strike

(Batavia - Dutch East Indies) When radar operators noticed that there were two groups of Japanese airplanes approaching Tjilatjap (in south-central Java), they sent a pair of airplanes out to take a look at the two groups.

One pilot reported coming across an attack squadron with a mixture of Kate and Val bombers escorted by over a dozen Zero fighters. The fighters jumped and destroyed the scout plane.

However, the other scout reported a squadron of 15 Kate bombers flying without fighter escort.

Immediately, ground control vectored fighters taking off from Bandoeng towards the second group. When the allied pilots found the unescorted squadron, they managed to shoot down 10 out of 15 bombers.

In the course of the battle, Warrant Officer William Roland De Maus became the second ace of the Pacific war, shooting down his fifth and his sixth enemy airplanes. Combined, 488 Fighter pilots have racked up 33 air-to-air combat kills so far in the war.[/font]


The Battle for Burma: A War Diary - Day 26
Racing the Japanese Across the Irrawaddy River

(TRH) The commonwealth army continues to retreat in central Burma, attempting to set up a last line of defenses on the northern side of the Irrawaddy River near the town of Mandalay. Our Thayne Reporter in Mandalay tells of these efforts to get soldiers across the river before the Japanese cut off their lines of retreat.

[font="Courier New"](Mandalay - Burma) From the south, trains loaded with over 1000 soldiers of the 9th Burma Rifles Battalion, and the Railway BAF Battalion are heading north. Their goal is to make it across the bridge to the north side of the Irrawaddy River and set up to help in the defense of northern Burma.

From the west, Japanese armor is approaching Mandalay. If they come hard enough and fast enough - as the Japanese have been known to do - they may intercept the train, destroying the units and preventing their deployment on the north side of the river.

A small group of defenders still on the south side of the bridge are deployed to postpone the Japanese and get the train across the bridge.

Lieutenant General Donald K. McLeod, head of the Burma command, is himself standing on the south side of the bridge, waiting to see if the trains will make it to the north bank.

We will not know who wins the race before I need to transmit this report. We can do nothing but wait. The train comes closer with each passing minute. Unfortunately, the Japanese come closer as well. [/font]

[Thayne]

THE THAYNE REPORTS: THE ADMIRALS' EDITION
February 27, 1942 - The Heroes of Java

The Thayne Reports are published by allied intelligence and distributed to senior officers serving in the Pacific Theater of Operation in order to give these officers an understanding of the overall military situation. These top secret reports contain the best and most up-to-date information available at the time of their writing. Revealing any of the contents of these reports will be punished as treason.


Java Bombers Sink Two Jap Troop Transports

(TRH) The RAF is reporting the sinking of two fully laden troop transports off of the coast of Java yesterday. This feat was accomplished by two pilots flying two of the most obsolete airplanes still in service. Our Thayne Reporter at Batavia gave us this report:

[font="Courier New"] (Batavia - Java) The term 'Hero' was invented specifically to be used for people like Royal Air Force pilots Nathaniel W. Wright, and Howard Drake.

We first found out that there was something going on when we received a coded message from Number 4 Anti-Aircraft Cooperation Unit out of Djokjakarta in central Java. An "Anti-Aircraft Cooperation Unit" is a squadrons whose job is to tow targets for anti-aircraft trainees to shoot at. However, the message said:

Morning Air attack on TF, near Semarang at 53,102

Allied aircraft
Swordfish I x 2

A Swordfish is a slow-moving biplane, hardly fit for modern combat. We felt certain that the planes and their pilots would be lost.

However, the next message to come from Djokjakarta told us:

xAP Tango Maru, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk

When we were able to get the full story, we found out that the two pilots, flying low from the south, got to the enemy ships without being fired on and lined up on a transport that was broadside to the planes. They released their torpedoes side by side. Both pilots then pulled up and out - making a climbing left turn while Drake turned right. They could not resist looking at the fruits of their efforts and saw two huge fountains of water erupt at the side of the ship.

However, we were not able to find this out until later. Immediately after returning to their base, the two pilots ordered that two more torpedoes be loaded onto their biplanes. The two pilots then flew out again. Later in the afternoon, we got the next message:

xAP Ussuri Maru, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk

Wright and Drake reported seeing the victim of their first attack capsized with a few dozen Japanese soldier standing on overturned ship. After attacking the second ship, the two pilots stayed long enough to get a couple of pictures of the ships slipping under the water at the stern.

From other sources, we estimate that the Japanese lost approximately 4,000 soldiers in those two attacks.

This from two pilots whose job up to this point has been to tow targets as a part of the training for anti-aircraft gunners.[/font]


Japanese Drive for Bataan Continues

(TRH) In spite of heavy losses, the Japanese have intensified their attack against the allied armies in the Philippines, forcing the American and Philippine armies to retreat on a wide front.

The allied army in the Philippines consists of nearly 35,000 soldiers that withdrew to the Bataan peninsula in late December under the weight of the Japanese invasion of the islands.

For over a month after that, the allies had been able to fly reconnaissance airplanes out of Bataan and even continued to resupply and refuel submarines that patrolled the waters near the Philippine islands. However, shortages of supplies forced the Bataan garrison to put an end to those activities a while ago. For the past two weeks the allied soldiers have been able to do nothing but hide behind their breastworks, eat their meager rations, suffer through the Japanese air raids, and wait for the inevitable Japanese attack.

Estimates are that the Japanese have thrown over 60,000 soldiers up against the Bataan garrison. Military analysts are telling Thayne Report that the Japanese will not likely let up until the allied defenders have either been killed or captured. Their estimates are that the allied army will be able to last three or four more days before they will have nothing left to fight with and be forced to surrender.

One of the most acute shortages the soldiers are now experiencing is with medical care. Wounded allied soldiers are having to deal with medical techniques that are not much different than what soldiers had to endure on the battle fields of the Civil War. Doctors are being forced to make due with whatever equipment they can find, treating wounds and amputating limbs through an acute shortage of antibiotics and anesthetics. They work with the near certain knowledge that they will have thousands of additional soldiers to treat in the next few days.


The Battle for Burma: A War Diary - Day 27
The Japanese Reach Mandalay

(TRH) Our Thayne Reporter in central Burma tells us that the last major battle for Burma is nearly at hand. Allied soldiers are setting up their last line of defense north of the Irrawaddy River in central Burma, while the Japanese prepare to capture the key town of Mandalay.

[font="Courier New"](Mandalay - Burma) The Japanese are here.

They arrived too late to block the soldiers retreating out of Meiktila to the south. Late last night, trains carrying nearly 1000 allied soldiers came through Mandalay and crossed the bridge over to the north side of the Irrawaddy River, where the 9th Burma Rifles Battalion and the Railway BAF Battalion added their strength to the defenses of northern Burma.

With the last of the allied soldiers in southern Burma now across the river, it is left to the Mandalay garrison itself to get across the river and to blow the bridges connecting upper and lower Burma.

However, the allies have run out of time for a peaceful withdraw. The Japanese have arrived and are not likely to hesitate in capturing the city. The few soldiers that remain are now setting up for a fighting withdraw, with units taking ordered turns to cross the bridge or to take a boat across the Irrawaddy River.[/font]


Japanese Army Approaches Batavia, Java

(TRH) In addition to moving to capture Bataan in the Philippines and Mandalay in central Burma, the Japanese army is also moving on Batavia in western Java. Our Thayne Reporter in Batavia filed this report.

[font="Courier New"] (Batavia - Dutch East Indies) The streets of Batavia are deserted now. An air raid warning that came late in the afternoon drove many of the citizens underground. Though the enemy planes have long since departed, the citizens have been asked to remain indoors in a safe place - in a basement or bomb shelter - until the current conflict has been resolved.

The Japanese army is now just outside the city. Soon, it is expected that they will make their move to capture the city.

Citizens here expect that the conflict will be resolved when the Dutch army surrenders to the Japanese, after putting up a spirited defense for the port city.

From the point of view of the citizens, it may seem best to simply surrender Batavia to the Japanese and prevent the destruction that will come from an actual battle. However, from the point of view of the Allied army the best option is to inflict as many casualties on the Japanese as possible and to delay them as much as possible, buying time for allied forces in India and Ceylon, and the Fiji-Samoa island complex, to build up their defenses.

Every day that the Dutch hold out is a day that the American factories retool to produce more planes, that recruits that enlisted after Pearl Harbor get a little more training, and the fortifications being built around key locations such as Chittagong, India and Suva, Fiji get a little stronger. So the citizens huddle and wait - and they wonder what life will be like when they emerge from their shelter into a city that will, at that time, be ruled by the Japanese empire.[/font]

[Thayne]

THE THAYNE REPORTS: THE ADMIRALS' EDITION

ALLIED COUNTERSTRIKES EAST AND WEST

(TRH) The Pacific Fleet prepares for two-days of attacks on a Japanese-held island in the New Hebrides chain. The Japanese capture Mandalay in Burma. The rescue of the survivors from Port Moresby picks up some American help.

These are the stories of the War in the Pacific for February 28, 1942


Pacific Fleet Prepares to Attack Espirito Santo

(TRH) A Pacific Ocean attack force consisting of three aircraft carriers, four battleships, and numerous cruisers and destroyers is in its last day of preparing for two days of attacks on the Japanese in the South Pacific.

The target for the Allied navy is the Japanese force that recently occupied Espirito Santo, an island in the northern part of the New Hebrides island chain, northwest of Fiji and northeast of New Caledonia.

We get the latest from the Thayne Reporter currently sailing on the aircraft carrier Yorktown.


[font="Courier New"](Yorktown - New Hebrides) Here on board the American aircraft carrier Yorktown, the officers have given their crew their final instructions for tomorrow's attack.

The schedule that they have provided to me calls for the fleet to sail to a range of 200 miles northeast of Espirito Santo by dawn. Shortly before dawn the several battleships and cruisers travelling with the fleet will launch search planes to make sure that the Japanese Navy is not hiding nearby.

At the same time, the three carriers, Yorktown, the newly rested Saratoga, and the still-damaged Yorktown will launch its fighters to be on guard against Japanese air attacks, and its TBD bombers to aid in scouting nearby waters and hunting for enemy submarines.

If the reports come back that all is clear, the carriers will launch their SBD dive bombers against the Japanese at Espirito Santo.

For the first time in this war, the allies are using a new weapon in military intelligence. A few days ago, they moved a squadron of F4 reconnaissance aircraft to Tanna. The F4 is a fast, high-flying twin-engine plane armed with a particularly powerful camera for taking aerial photographs of likely targets. Yesterday, they took photographs of Espirito Santo.

The photographs allowed military intelligence to estimate that the Japanese have landed a force of approximately 2000 soldiers. More importantly, they showed approximately 12 ships still anchored off of the island - most of them being transport ships.

If those ships are still there in the morning, the bombers will make it their first priority to send those ships and their cargo to the ocean floor.

If the ships are gone, the bombers will target the Japanese soldiers on the island.

Tomorrow night the carriers will move to within 100 miles of Espirito Santo. The battleships USS Colorado, USS New Mexico, USS Mississippi, and HMS Warspite will sail up to the island itself. This bombardment force will deal with any lingering Japanese ships. Then, in full daylight, it will bombard the Japanese forces on the island while Navy photographers record the bombardment for domestic news reels.

At the same time, the carriers will launch all of their airplanes against the surviving Japanese troops on the island.

Following this, the allied forces will withdraw. Lexington will return to Pearl Harbor for repairs, while Saratoga and Yorktown return to Suva in the Fiji Islands to rearm and protect against Japanese expansion into the Fiji-Samoa complex.

Currently, we are dealing with some fairly heavy waves as a storm blew threw earlier today. However, meteorologists are telling us that we should expect clear skies tomorrow for at least the first day of the attack.

The one known threat - a Japanese carrier force that damaged Lexington over a week ago remains far south of Noumea - remains too far south of New Caledonia to be a threat on the first day of attacks.[/font]


(TRH) While the allied attack fleet prepares to bombard Espirito Santo, Admiral Nimitz has also given orders for a small task force to attempt to deliver about 2000 tons of supplies to the troops on Tanna, about 400 miles south of Espirito Santo.

Tanna has frequently been within strike range of the Japanese carrier force hovering around New Caledonia. It is hoped, however, that the ships can get in and get their supplies unloaded quickly before the next Japanese strike comes.

The supply force consists of two fully stocked seaplane tenders, two destroyer transports, and an amphibious supply ship. It is currently at Yasawa Islands, just under 100 miles northwest of Suva in the Fiji Island complex. These ships are leaving Yasawa at dusk and, in two days, should arrive at Tanna. The seaplane tenders will take over the job of tending to the scout planes that have been operating out of Tanna while the tenders currently at Tanna return to Suva.

While discussing the Tanna supply mission, the Combined Chiefs of Staff have decided that the Tanna outpost is too lightly garrisoned and too vulnerable to a Japanese counter attack and is making plans to reinforce the garrison. In the near term, it is planning to reinforce the garrison with the 2nd USMC Tank Battalion, soon to disembark at Suva. In the long term, the officers of the 108th Infantry Regiment, currently in San Diego, have been told to prepare to join the force occupying Tanna.


Port Moresby Rescue Gets US Help

(TRH) Australian seaplanes tenders trying to rescue the survivors of the sudden Japanese attack and capture of Port Moresby have just received some significant help from the U.S. Navy.

The Navy Department dispatched VP-72 - a seaplane squadron consisting of 12 PBY-5 float planes - to Cairns to help in the rescue.

These seaplanes will fly out of Cairns to the southern coast of Port Moresby, where they will search the bays and coves of the island for signs of Australian troops that escaped the Japanese capture of Port Moresby. They will pick up these troops and deliver them back in Cairns.

The 12 planes of VP-72, added to the 8 seaplanes that the Australians have moved to Cairns, means that 20 seaplanes will be involved in the rescue. Combined, they should be able to bring 200 troops per day back to Australia.


The Battle of Burma: A War Diary – Day 28
The Loss of Mandalay

(TRH) Wasting no time, the Japanese drove the British out of Mandalay in central Burma yesterday. The Thayne Reporter, joining the British force as it retreats north of the Irrawaddy River, filed this report.


[font="Courier New"](Swebo - Burma) The British plan was to hold off the Japanese while they engaged in an orderly retreat across the bridge to the north side of the Irrawaddy Valley.

The Japanese plan, apparently, was to drive as quickly as possible to the bridge and deny the British army the opportunity for an orderly retreat.

Of these two options, the Japanese proved once again to be the more capable of executing a plan.

In order to understand the battle, one needs to know something about the geography of Mandalay itself.

The Irrawaddy river comes flows down from the north, past Mandalay, which is on the eastern shore, and continues south for another seven miles. Then it takes a sharp right turn and heads west. That is the direction that the Japanese were coming from - out of the west.

The bridge crosses the Irrawaddy River right at the bend, seven miles south of Mandalay. If the Japanese capture this bridge, then Mandalay, seven miles north and on the east side of the river, is cut off.

The approach to the bridge from the west has some natural defense. One of the branches to the Irrawaddy flows just west of the bridge. The British built its defenses right behind this barrier.

One of the problems with this defense is that, staying on the west side of the river, the Japanese can still get within a mile of the bridge, which is close enough to shoot at anybody trying to use it.

During the monsoon season, the land south of the bridge is mostly under water. During the rest of the year, the area south of the bridge is turned fields. This is the dry season, meaning that the fields to the south are dry and flat - perfect terrain for the small and light Japanese tanks.

One Japanese tank battalion drove at us from the west, trying to get out onto that peninsula that would put the bridge within its field of fire.

While it did so, two additional tank battalions circles around to the south, crossing the tributary and getting onto the soft fields south of the bridge.

The British army had few anti-tank weapons anyway, so the worst they could do was to try to frighten the Japanese away. However, the Japanese were having none of it. They just kept coming.

A small portion of the British army made it across the bridge before the Japanese got so close the bridge had to be destroyed. The rest had to make their way across by boat or, in some cases, by swimming.

In all, about 1500 soldiers under British command were killed, wounded, or captured.

The scene was a lot like what I saw at Moulmean on the first days of the Japanese assault. One difference is that here on the north side of the Irrawaddy, the British have almost 10,000 soldiers, with which to keep the Japanese on the south side of the river.

The bad news is that there is an awful lot of river frontage to defend. The Japanese have the option of crossing at any point they choose, from Mandalay north to Thabeikkyin or Twinnge.

In its defense, the British have developed a tripwire system, with a number of small units stationed at key points on the north - or, in this case, the west bank of the river. The main force has moved into the town of Swebo. When the attack comes, the main force at Swebo will be called up to stand against that attack.

The main goal of the British army remains the task of delaying the Japanese while the four Chinese divisions and a large set of British base forces. The only air base that remains operational for ferrying allied soldiers out of northern Burma by air is at Myitkyina to the north. From there, allied transport aircraft have been carrying out about 300 people per day.

At that rate, it will take a long time to get the remaining British forces in Burma off to safety.[/font]


Japanese Forces Approach Lautem, Eastern Timor

(TRH) While the battle for Koepang on the western tip of Timor, north of Darwin, Australia, goes on, a second Japanese force has now been spotted approaching Lautem, on the eastern tip of Timor.

Just at dusk, a report came in of a Japanese ship or ships about 20 miles northeast of Lautem. It is currently not known whether this is a scout craft or a full landing force.

The Australians and Dutch have been carrying out an operation at Lautem much like they had done at Koepang. As the Japanese took over bases to the north and west of Timor, seaplanes operating out of Koepang have been rescuing the survivors. Koepang now has an occupation force of 6,000 soldiers - a force four times larger than the 1500 soldiers that the Australians had originally sent to garrison the island.

The Australians have also spent every day of reasonably clear weather flying in supplies from Darwin. Currently, Koepang is well stocked to endure a long battle.

In light of the Japanese ships showing up off the shore, the seaplane tender Fazant will leave Lautem for Merauke on the southern coast of New Guinea. If Timor should get overrun, the sea planes will move to Merauke where another mission to gather surviving Dutch soldiers at one Dutch base will begin.


The Thayne Reports are published by allied intelligence and distributed to senior officers serving in the Pacific Theater of Operation in order to give these officers an understanding of the overall military situation. These top secret reports contain the best and most up-to-date information available at the time of their writing. Revealing any of the contents of these reports will be punished as treason.

[Thayne]

THE THAYNE REPORTS: THE ADMIRALS' EDITION: MARCH 1, 1942

ALLIED CARRIERS SINK 14 JAP SHIPS AT ESPIRITO SANTO

(TRH) The Pacific Fleet launched its first day of attacks on the Japanese occupation force at Espirito Santo, sinking 14 Japanese ships. A similar Japanese raid at Johnson Island sinks 7 allied transport ships. The Japanese appear to be moving an attack force to Akyab in eastern India.


Pacific Fleet sinks Jap transport convoy at Espirito Santo

(TRH) Allied carrier aircraft striking at Espirito Santo sank 14 Japanese transport and escort ships in two waves of air strikes.

Japanese losses include one destroyer transport, three patrol boats, one sub chaser, six large cargo ships, and three small cargo ships. American dive bombers also hit several other ships, many of which are expected to sink in the near future.

The Thayne Reporter on Yorktown reported today's events.

[font="Courier New"](Yorktown - New Hebrides) You could not have asked for better flying weather than that which greeted the three aircraft carriers of the South Pacific fleet this morning. We woke up to a star-filled sky promising a cloudless day.

Of course, what is good for the allies, can also be good for the Japanese. One of our biggest worries was that a Japanese carrier force sat just over the horizon - a trap, ready to be spring, for anybody who challenged the landing at Espirito Santo.

Before the sun even started enlightening the eastern sky, the carriers turned into the wind, putting a brisk thirty-five knots of air speed down the length of the flight decks, and launched the torpedo bombers that would serve as our scout planes today. The battleships and cruisers put their float planes in the air. Next, the carriers put up fighters to protect the fleet from any Japanese attack. Then, it set its dive bombers on the deck, ready to launch them against any Japanese target.

The scout planes reported finding no sign of a trap, but they did find a large number of ships sitting off the shore of Luganville on the island of Espirito Santo.

TBD-1 Devastator sighting report: 2 Japanese ships
TBD-1 Devastator sighting report: 2 Japanese ships
TBD-1 Devastator sighting report: 2 Japanese ships
TBD-1 Devastator sighting report: Japanese xAK
TBD-1 Devastator sighting report: 2 Japanese ships
TBD-1 Devastator has spotted PB Santo Maru
TBD-1 Devastator sighting report: 2 Japanese ships
TBD-1 Devastator has spotted xAK Keisyo Maru
:::::::: xAK Keisyo Maru is reported HIT
TBD-1 Devastator sighting report: Japanese xAK
TBD-1 Devastator sighting report: 2 Japanese ships
TBD-1 Devastator sighting report: 5 Japanese ships
TBD-1 Devastator has spotted xAK Keisyo Maru
SOC-1 Seagull has spotted a Ch-51 class SC

When Rear Admiral Frederick Sherman was confident the Japanese had not set a trap, he had the three carriers put 90 dive bombers into the air and sent them to Luganville.

Eighty-nine airplanes came back. They reported sinking about half of the Japanese fleet, including numerous cruisers and destroyers. However, Sherman only put his trust on the pictures the crews brought back. They showed that the task force consisted entirely of transport ships and their escort.

Sherman ordered a second strike. Ground crews determined that one of the returning bombers was too badly damaged for a second trip and sent 88 bombers on the second wave. They inflicted more damage on the Japanese ships at Luganville. This time, all of the airplanes returned.

The pilots are celebrating today as Sherman turns the carrier fleets west. Tomorrow we will be only 100 miles from Luganville, ready to launch a second day of attacks. The task force of battleships and cruisers will approach Luganville itself and begin shelling. Camera crews are ready to capture the action.

This mission had been ordered as a propaganda move, to counter the news of defeat at Port Moresby and Mandalay, and news to come of defeats at Bataan and Batavia. However, the size of the transport force we found at Luganville made this attack an important victory in its own right.

And we're not done yet.[/font]

(TRH) South of Espirito Santo, at Tanna, a task force carrying over 1000 has been ordered to withdraw. An examination of the movements of the Japanese carrier force suggests that it will swing east again, possibly putting it within striking range of Tanna and any ships unloading cargo there.

Further west, three squadrons of Catalina aircraft pulled 185 soldiers out of the jungles around Port Moresby, landing them safely in Cairns in northwestern Australia. It is estimated that this is a mere ten percent of the total number of allied troops stranded in the jungles of southern New Guinea.


Japanese Raid Sinks 7 small Allied Transports at Johnson Island

(TRH) A Japanese surface attack force centered around a heavy cruiser showed up suddenly at Johnson Island, southwest of Hawaii, catching and sinking 7 Allied transports delivering supplies to the island.

The small transports were carrying submarine fuel to Johnson Island.

Since the start of the war, the allied forces have only used the smallest ships to supply its forward bases. They have done this specifically because they did not want to risk a Japanese raid damaging larger and, consequently, more important transport ships. All seven ships that the Japanese sank were listed as "xAKL" type cargo ships.

Allied dive bombers stationed on Johnson Island were unable to find the Japanese force during daylight hours.


The Battle of Burma: A War Diary – Day 28
Over 100 Allied Bombers Strike Mandalay. Burma

(TRH) Continuing its strategy in Burma, as soon as Japan occupies a new region, the Allies send a hundred airplanes in to destroy anything of value in that region.

This time, the allied air forces targeted Mandalay. British forces just across the river from Mandalay got a ringside seat to a full day of destruction brought by Allied airplanes.

Our Thayne Reporter now in Shwebo, Burma, filed this update:

[font="Courier New"](Shwebo - Burma) From the north side of the Irrawaddy River, allied soldiers could watch what a war looks like where the allied armies have control of the air.

By the end of the day, we saw over 100 allied bombers of several different sizes show up to bomb the Japanese forces in Mandalay.

The first raid was the largest. Sixty-five Allied bombers showed up, then split up with different groups of bombers attacking different targets around the city. The bulk of the four-engine bombers hit the airfield. Others aimed for bridges, railway yards and crossroads - anything to hinder the delivery of supplies and reinforcements to the units on the Japanese front lines.

One of the more heartening sights we had on this side of the river was the large columns of smoke rising from the Japanese side.

Nonetheless, we can see signs of the Japanese making plans to cross the river. We still do not know where the crossing will come from. The Japanese have spread themselves up along a wide front and seem to be working on several options at once. No doubt, some of their maneuvers are decoys that aim to distract us from the one genuine assault, but at least some of the preparations are a part of a genuine assault.

The hardest task for the Japanese right now is to get their tanks across the river. There are a few places where they might be able to accomplish this - such as the shallow part of the river just north of Mandalay. Another option is to use boats that the Japanese have captured downstream to ferry the small, light Japanese tanks across.

Either way, there is no doubt on this side of the river, the Japanese are on their way.[/font]


Akyab, India Threatened by New Japanese Task Force

(TRH) Allied submarines appear to be tracking a Japanese assault force approaching Akyab, a small coastal village in eastern India.

In the first sighting, the Dutch submarine SS KXIV put two torpedoes into a transport ship and later reported hearing the sounds of a ship breaking up as it sank. In the second sighting, the American submarine SS S-39 hit one transport ship with a torpedo and managed to escape the escort.

Both submarine captains report that the ships they hit were a part of a larger convoy, and that convoy is currently heading north.

Projecting this force north, military intelligence suggests that the Japanese force will reach Akyab in the next day or two.

When the Japanese land at Akyab, a new phase of the war in the far east will begin - the Battle for India. This will be a battle to control the air bases that the allies have been using to fight the air war over Burma and to deliver much needed supplies by air to the Chinese.

A key location in the allied defense is the coastal town of Chittagong. The British have put 30,000 soldiers in Chittagong to hold the city and prevent the Japanese from breaking out into the open planes of eastern India. If Chittagong falls, the Japanese will be able to threaten everything from Dacca to Ledo.

The British army has welcomed the news that allied submarines have sunk one transport and damaged a second.

In response to this threat, the British have ordered the 254th Armoured Brigade and the 150th RAC Regiment from Calcutta to Rangpurm about 250 miles to the north. This move will keep the units out of the malaria-infested eastern portion of India and allow them to continue to train and main peak combat effectiveness, while putting them in a position where they can get to Chittagong more quickly, or plug any other leaks that emerge in the British defenses.

In addition, the British command has warned the allied air forces in eastern India that they will soon be putting Akyab on their target list.


The Thayne Reports are published by allied intelligence and distributed to senior officers serving in the Pacific Theater of Operation in order to give these officers an understanding of the overall military situation. These top secret reports contain the best and most up-to-date information available at the time of their writing. Revealing any of the contents of these reports will be punished as treason.

[Thayne]

THE THAYNE REPORTS: THE ADMIRALS' EDITION: SPECIAL EDITION

THE AUSTRALIAN ISSUE - WHY ARE CURTIN'S DIVISIONS IN CEYLON?

(TRH) Thayne Reporters have been interested in the question of why the Australian government has agreed to allow its military to garrison the island of Ceylon while Japan knocks on its door back home.

Curtin, who had been serving as Australia's prime minister only two months when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, has faced severe criticism at home by opposition leaders calling on him to "bring our boys home." However, in a public address on New Year's Eve, Curtin reported that the war is not Australia's alone. "We must coordinate its efforts with other nations such as England and the United States to bring about a common victory, or the world itself will fall into darkness."

In investigating this decision, Thayne Report has learned that Curtin made this decision substantially as a response to an open threat that the American president Franklin Roosevelt made to Curtin shortly after the start of hostilities.

According to several anonymous sources, Roosevelt told Curtin that if Australia calls its Africa forces home to Australia, that America will respond by ending all shipments of weapons, ammunition, and fuel to the country.

Curtin had initially summoned the Australians serving in Africa home immediately after the Pearl Harbor attack. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill had asked Curtin to divert the units to Burma. However, Curtin flatly refused and said that the issue was not negotiable.

A few days later, the Combined Chiefs of Staffs informed Roosevelt and Churchill that Ceylon was vulnerable - that Japan had the capacity to invade and to capture the island of Ceylon and had actively studied the option. Ceylon would give Japan the capacity to patrol the Indian ocean at depth and hinder any shipment of supplies to Australia from Africa.

This is the same report that mentioned for the first time that Japan was making plans to capture and hold onto New Caledonia, thus threatening the line of communications to Australia through the South Pacific.

Roosevelt and Churchill presented this information to Curtin, suggesting that the Japanese plan will be to first isolate Australia by taking control of the oceans on both sides of the country, and attack once the country was cut off.

"We have seen the same strategy used in China where Japan took every port and has now cut the Burma Road, in the Philippines where we have 35,000 soldiers cut off, and now in the Dutch East Indies," Roosevelt told Curtin according to our sources.

"The best way to protect Australia," Roosevelt reportedly told Curtin, "would be to make sure that Japan cannot close these doors through which supplies and reinforcements can reach Australia. And the best way to do that, given the current position of the Australian divisions, is to use those divisions to garrison the island of Ceylon. As long as Ceylon remains in allied hands, the flow of supplies to Australia around Africa can continue, and Japan will not invade Australia."

Curtin reportedly remained unconvinced that this was the best option and continued to insist on bringing the Australian divisions home. One counter-point he made to Roosevelt's argument was the that Japan could isolate Australia, not by taking Ceylon, but by taking the ports of western Australia itself - including Perth.

It is at this point that Roosevelt allegedly unveiled his threat - that if Curtin does not agree to garrison Ceylon with the Australian divisions, that he, Roosevelt, would end all shipments of arms, ammunition, and fuel to Australia. "If we have to garrison Ceylon ourselves - or, more precisely, if we have to prepare to lose Ceylon to a Japanese invasion - then we will need these supplies elsewhere. And if we lose Ceylon, Australia will need to learn how to get by without an inflow of foreign supplies anyway. "

Even though he was furious over the ultimatum, Curtin ultimately felt that he had no choice but to yield to Roosevelt's threat.

Roosevelt ended the conversation by telling Curtin, "I am fully convinced that this is the best way to save Australia from a serious invasion. As long as Ceylon is in allied hands, Australia - the main part of Australia - is safe."

In addition to agreeing to garrison Ceylon, Curtin also ordered his cabinet to draw up plans to evacuate northern Australia and declare it a military zone, off limits to civilians other than essential civilian volunteers.

Since the December exchange, Curtin has obtained some concessions as a result to agreeing to put the Australian divisions in Ceylon.

Primarily, Curtin obtained an agreement that Australian units will serve as a combined army under an Australian leader who will get his orders directly from Curtin's government. When presented with the need to work as a combined force, Curtain countered, "If the Australian army is in charge of seeing to the protection of Ceylon, then I am in charge of seeing to the protection of Ceylon, and the military forces in Ceylon get their orders from me. "

The I Australian Corps HQ is currently on its way to Ceylon to command all allied units on the island.

In making his demand, Curtin specifically referenced the Greek affair where Britain is accused of having manipulated the Australian divisions into a no-win situation in Greece. British leaders allegedly manipulated the consent of the Australian field officers by telling them that they had talked with the Australian government, who had agreed to the plan. At the same time, Britain obtained the consent of the Australian government by claiming that they had talked to the field officers, who had agreed to the plan.

"If Australian units are getting their orders from the Australian government, these things won't happen," Curtain said.

With the fall of Port Moresby, Curtin has put into operation the plan to declare northern Australia a military zone and ordered all non-essential civilians to evacuate. Camps have been set up from Sydney to Melbourne to house the refugees.


The Thayne Reports are published by allied intelligence and distributed to senior officers serving in the Pacific Theater of Operation in order to give these officers an understanding of the overall military situation. These top secret reports contain the best and most up-to-date information available at the time of their writing. Revealing any of the contents of these reports will be punished as treason.

[Thayne]

THE THAYNE REPORTS: THE ADMIRALS' EDITION - MARCH 2, 1942

ALLIES SCORE A VICTORY AT MANDALAY

• The British army holds off a Japanese assault north of Mandalay.
• The allied air force in India is starting to show strain.
• The Australians and Dutch on Timor face a second Japanese landing.
• Chaos Disrupts Rescue of Australians in New Guinea
• A Japanese carrier-based assault on Tanna destroys two seaplane tenders.
• The Allied fleet in the South Pacific gets its film footage bombarding Luganville

These are the stories that define the War in the Pacific on Monday, March 2, 1942.


British Drive Off Japanese Armor at Mandalay

(TRH) The British army north of Mandalay scored a true victory, driving off a Japanese armored assault as the Japanese attempted to cross the Irrawaddy River. Our reporter in Burma filed this report:

[font="Courier New"](Shwebo - Burma) The Irrawaddy River just north of Mandalay is wide and shallow. This time of year it is particularly shallow since this is the dry season - the monsoons start up again in June.

Still, where the river still flows, the mud is far too soft even for a light Japanese tank, so some sort of bridge has to be built.

The Japanese were making noises all along their side of the river. However, the noises they were making north of Mandalay were different. In the light of the full moon, we could see them on the far shore laying plates in the water and anchoring them - making a bridge.

The 16th Indian Brigade came forward and set up their guns, then they began to fire on the Japanese workers. The Japanese responded by bringing tanks across - stopping at a low-flat island half way across the river and spreading about and seeking to silence our guns. Meanwhile, crews continued to work on extending the bridge.

Soon, in addition to the light of the full moon, we could see the Japanese by the light of burning tanks. As its ammunition caught fire, a tank would send a flare up into the sky illuminating a whole region.

As I watched the tanks, I focused on specific enemy vehicles, one at a time. Immediately, I noticed how slowly each tank was firing. Each tank would wait several minutes between shots.

This suggested to me that the Japanese were low on ammunition. I immediately brought this to the attention of Major General John Smyth of th 18th Indian Brigade.

After about three hours of combat, we watched the Japanese do something we had never seen before.

They retreated. They took those tanks that could still move and their work crews and they went back to their side of the river.

By dawn, the only sounds left were the sounds of exploding tanks.

After the sun had risen, I was able to count 36 Japanese tanks stranded in the river bed.

I also noticed, as I walked among the troops, a change in attitude on the part of some of the soldiers. For example, as I walked past the line for one company kitchen, I heard one British soldier say to another, "Perhaps we should stop asking where we are going to stop the Japanese, and start asking where they are going to try to stop us."

But, the Japanese advance has been stopped for only one day. One thing we could count on is the fact that the Japanese will be back. And next time, there will be more of them.[/font]


Bombing Demands Strain Allied Air Forces in India

(TRN) Over a third of the allied bombers working in eastern India are currently grounded for maintenance as the strain of its attacks on Burma take a toll on both men and equipment.

At the same time, the demands that the war is placing on the bomber groups continues to increase.

Our Thayne Reporter in Calcutta gives us the story.


[font="Courier New"](Calcutta - India) Thirty-nine allied bombers rendered unfit to fly, and two targets that needed the attention of the allied air force in Burma.

The constant pressure that the allies had been putting on the infrastructure in Burma was quickly wearing down the air force itself. More than half of the B-17s of the 7th Bomber Group in Dacca - a full 22 airplanes - are grounded for maintenance.

In spite of having fewer airplanes that it can put in the air, Air Headquarters - India has two targets that it absolutely must hit tomorrow if it is to keep enemy fighters out of Burma.

Japanese soldiers have moved into the Meiktila region, south of Mandalay in central Burma. Within 24 hours, they could be operating fighters out of the airfields near Meiktila, covering the Japanese ground assault in central Burma, and launching Japanese bombers against the allied air fields.

In addition, aerial reconnaissance shows that the Japanese at Pego have almost entirely repaired the city's infrastructure. It it is not hit tormorrow, the Japanese can be expected to have fighters there the next day.

Half as many planes - and twice as much work to be done.

Air Marshall Playfair, the commander of Air Headquarters - India, gave the command that the heavy bombers would attack Pegu, while the medium bombers would attack targets in the Meiktila region. Neither target would be hit particularly hard, but 'not particularly hard' was still better than 'not at all.'

The orders went out. Air forces personnel computed the weight of the bomb load for each plane and the amount of fuel required. They ensured that the supplies would be available before sunset. They selected the specific targets for each attack - airfields, railway yards, suspected ammunition dumps. They determined course and speed and assigned each airplane a spot in the formation.

They did all of this while the air groups were still in the middle of today's bombing run, and its results had not even come back yet.[/font]


Japanese Land on Eastern Timor

(TRH) On the island of Timor, north of the Australian town of Darwin, a new Japanese force has landed on the eastern side of the island. This force, rumored to be less than 1000 soldiers, landed a safe distance away from the allied forces occupying the town of Lautem, though its destroyers did shell Lautem on the way by.

Seaplanes operating out of Lautem are continuing to bring back Dutch soldiers that had survived other battles but were driven into the jungles. Over the course of the day, they had brought nearly 200 soldiers to Lautem.

At the same time, transport planes and bombers from Darwin are still flying supplies into Lautem. Tomorrow, they will not bring supplies. Instead, they have been ordered to bring bombs and to drop them on the Japanese landing party.

This is the second Japanese landing on Timor. Dutch forces at Koepang, on the west tip of the island, are continuing to battle a Japanese force that landed about two weeks ago. In spite of some heavy fighting, the Dutch soldiers still control the city and all of its key locations.


Chaos Rules New Guinea Rescue Attempt

(TRH) Confusion in the ranks of the Australian leadership prevented the rescue of more than a hand full of soldiers from New Guinea as pilots were told there are no more survivors to pick up.

The military has launched an inquiry to determine why only a small handful of allied seaplanes at Cairns took off yesterday to try to rescue allied soldiers in New Guinea.

Thayne Report has done its own investigating and learned that the seaplane pilots at Cairns had been told to stand down - that there are no more Australians to rescue. The pilots protested that they knew this to be false, but they were prohibited from flying out to New Guinea and told to wait for new orders.

Apparently, the mixup came about when the crew of one PBY reported that they had brought back the last survivors of the Rabaul Detached Base Force. After the fall of Rabaul, pilots had brought some of the survivors of that battle back to Port Moresby. When Japan captured Port Moresby, some of those soldiers retreated into the jungle.

The soldiers had stuck together and had been rescued as a group. When the last of them landed in Cairnes, the pilots reported this fact, and the confusion began there.

In fact, it is estimated that around 2500 Australian soldiers are still hiding in the jungles of New Guinea waiting for rescue.

The seaplanes have been given new orders to continue their rescue operations tomorrow.


Nimitz Orders Evacuation of Noumea, New Caledonia

(TNH) With two Japanese carriers continuing to stand guard over Noumea in New Caledonia, and military intelligence continuing to hear noises indicating an upcoming Japanese operation to take New Caledonia, Admiral Chester Nimitz, Commander in Chief of the Pacific, ordered an evacuation of Noumea to prevent the troops from being trapped there.

He ordered the seaplanes of VP-51 to Tanna with orders to fly to New Caledonia, pick up the soldiers, and return to Tanna with them.

According to members of Nimitz staff, this will help to take care of two problems that has concerned Nimitz - what to do about the troops on New Caledonia, and how to increase the size of the garrison at Tanna.

Noumea currently holds approximately 3,500 soldiers. These soldiers arrived as a part of a transport task force that landed early in the war. However, a Japanese carrier force drove the allied landing force away before it had a chance to unload all of its troups. They sank one troop transport as it tried to flee from the Japanese carriers.

Since then, the Japanese have kept an eye on New Caledonia putting any future mission to reinforce the island at risk. With the Japanese carrier force continuing to prevent reinforcement, and a Japanese invasion force being planned, Nimitz has called for using sea planes to re-deploy the soldiers in New Caledonia to Tanna.


Jap Carrier Planes Wreck Two Seaplane Tenders at Tanna

(TRH) Japanese carrier-based bombers escorted by Zero fighters attacked the outpost of Tanna yesterday in the southern New Hebrides islands, wrecking its two seaplane tenders Hulbert and Thornton.

We have a Thayne Reporter staying with the soldiers at Tanna who filed this eye-witness report.

[font="Courier New"](Tanna - New Hebrides) "That's the way it's done," said the Marine standing next to me as we watched the destruction of the seaplane tenders Hulbert and Thornton.

He was watching the Japanese dive bombers through a pair of binoculars and, even though they were the enemy, he could not deny the skill with which they attacked the two boats.

The dive bomber pilots lined their airplanes up to fly the length of their target - from stern to bow. Then they dove down at a sharp 80 degree angle, releasing their bombs just a couple thousand feet from the ground. The pilot waited until he was 2000 feet above the ground, released his ordinance, then pulled up sharply.

Two bombs hit Hulbert. At sunset, it is covered with flames not only burning on the ship itself but on the pool of oil that surrounds it. It has not sunk yet, but its fire control system has been destroyed and it continues to burn.

Thornton took one bomb and is also burning, but not as heavily.

We have already counted 78 dead and 113 wounded from the attack. Most of the wounded have been severely burned. We could hear their screaming. Soldiers know that if there is anything they can do to help, that they will we called upon. If they have not been called upon, the best thing they can do is to attend to their duties and stay out of the way of others.

When a cargo plane arrives from Fiji bringing supplies, it flies out with a dozen wounded soldiers. By night time the worst of the wounded had left the island. The bodies of those who did not survive have been laid out inside a nearby tent - out of sight.

Ironically, the seaplane tenders are destroyed just as we receive a new squadron of seaplanes that will start operating out of this base. VP-51 will be making regular fights to Noumea and bringing back the Australian and New Zealand soldiers stationed there. The spare parts and repair equipment for the seaplanes are sitting in the harbor on two burning ships.

In addition to suffering damage to the two seaplane tenders, Tanna also lost three P-30 Airacobra fighters trying to stop the Japanese air assault. The Zeros had little trouble dealing with the Airacobra fighters and, this time, did not leave the bombers unprotected while they chased after some juicy targets.

Anti-aircraft fire from Thornton did manage to destroy one Val bomber in the attack, but the allied pilots of the 35th Pursuit Group shot down no Japanese planes.

At the end of the day, Colonel David Shoup announced that, even though bombers will be put to work delivering more supplies to Tanna, he is imposing measures to conserve supplies on the island. Rations will be cut, gasoline will be rationed and muscles will be used in place of gas guzzing machines as much as possible.[/font]


Navy Department Films Luganville Bombardment

(TRH) The Navy Department got its footage of four battleships shelling the Japanese forces at Luganville.

The allied task force, consisting of 4 battleships along with numberous cruisers and destroyers, reached Luganville on the island of Espirito Santo in the afternoon, after airplanes from three carriers had spent the day attacking the Japanese defenders.

While on its way to Luganville, the bombardment task force found a Japanese destroyer and transport ship and sank them. The Japanese destroyer managed to land some shells on the Australian destroyer Vendetta, killing six crewmen and injuring 36.

After sinking the two Japanese ships, the bombardment group sailed up to within a few thousand feet of Luganville and began firing on the Japanese positions.

Seaplanes launched from the battleships not only filmed the battleships firing their guns, and the explosions that the fifteen and sixteen inch shells bursting on the island, but spotted the Japanese positions and directed the bombardment.

Approximately three hours of shelling was filmed from Navy Department camaramen riding in seaplanes.

At dusk, the allied navy ended its bombardment and withdrew from the island. It met up with the three carriers and sailed east through the night.

Lexington will return to Pearl Harbor to receive some badly needed repairs, bringing with it the damaged Australian cruiser Vendetta. Saratoga and Yorktown will head south into the Fiji-Samoa complex to add to the defense of that region. Their next mission will likely be to escort ships delivering vital supplies to Tanna.



The Thayne Reports are published by allied intelligence and distributed to senior officers serving in the Pacific Theater of Operation in order to give these officers an understanding of the overall military situation. These top secret reports contain the best and most up-to-date information available at the time of their writing. Revealing any of the contents of these reports will be punished as treason.

[Thayne]

THE THAYNE REPORTS: THE ADMIRALS' EDITION - MARCH 3, 1942

JAP ARMY FORCES CROSSING AT MANDALAY - BURMA

• Burma - Japanese Cross Irrawaddy River
• Java - Japanese Battleships Shell Batavia

These are the stories that define the War in the Pacific on Tuesday, March 3, 1942.


Japan Crosses Irrawaddy

(TRH) The Japanese army got its tanks across the Irrawaddy river in central Burma, and now the British army is once again in retreat. The Thayne Reporter traveling with the British army gave this report.

[font="Courier New"](Shwebo - Burma) "Tanks. Jap tanks coming from the west."

Major General John Smyth was standing on the west bank of the Irrawaddy River looking east, trying to figure out what the Japanese were doing, when he got the message.

Darkness had come. Some Japanese tanks still burned on the island that split the Irrawaddy. On the other side of the island - on the Japanese side - the enemy was up to something. It was hard to know what.

Smyth was well aware of the possibility of a decoy. He had sent the 13th Burma Rifles Battalion west to the town of Ywathitkyi - fifteen miles away. His problem was he had too much shoreline to cover, and not enough troops to do it with.

The Japanese did not cross at Ywathitkyi. They landed even further west.

Lieutenant Colonel Sir Trumper-Jones, commander of the 13th Burma Rifles Battalion, ordered a patrol down a road that headed west, roughly in the same direction as the Irrawaddy River but about four miles inland. It was a good serviceable road for a column of tanks to travel. If the Japanese were using it, he wanted to know. He gave the patrol a flair gun and he set observers with orders to watch to the west - watch for any signs of a flair.

"If that flair goes off and you miss it, you will die," Jones said. It did not matter to him whether the troops took it as a threat or a warning.

They saw the flair at 1:15 AM.

The Japanese were coming.

Jones sent word back to General Smyth, then tried to set up a roadblock to stop the Japanese, or at least slow them. Jones' battalion did not have anti-tank weapons, so their roadblocks had to be in the form of blocking the road itself with ditches, trees, anything that tanks could not easily cross.

However, he had no time.

The Japanese had seen the flair as well, and knew that the element of surprise had been lost. When that happened, the Japanese went from using surprise to using speed.

When they met the 13th Battalion they pushed the roadblocks aside without any effort. Then they started to test the strength of the enemy. It did not take them long to discover that the 13th Battalion had nothing but rifles and grenades. The tanks moved ahead quickly - working to surround the soldiers and cut off their possibility of escape.

Back at Genearl Smyth's headquarters, with tanks behind him and on his side of the river Smyth started to make plans to retreat to the north. The area near the river was flat - perfect for tanks. He needed to find a place with less maneuverability - where infantry had some hope of trapping a tank.

Smyth first sent an order to his battalion commanders to prepare to move and to prepare for further orders. His maps showed him a dry river stream bed, north of his current positions, but still south of the Shwebo. There, the tanks would not be as mobile. He might be able to delay them for a while.

Hecalculated the best route for each of his units to travel, and then sent orders telling each commander when he could be on the road, one road he could be on, and when he had to have the road clear for the next unit.

While he did all of this, his own 16th Indian Brigade began to pack up as well.

It was time to retreat again.

Throughout the day, bits and pieces of the 13th Burma Battalion reported in. However, the unit had ceased to exist as a functioning military unit. Some of the soldiers had left their weapoins behind. The story that we would piece together is that the Japanese had trapped the bulk of the battalion in Ywathitkyi. Against tanks, it could not retreat in time. Much of the 13th Battalion surrendered. Much more of it simply vanished.[/font]


Batavia Faces Jap Naval Bombardment

(TRH) Japan moved two - possibly three battleships into range to attack the allies defending Batavia, inflicting heavy casualties on the Batavia Coastal Gun Battalion charged with defending the city. Our Thayne Reporter in Batavia fills us in.

[font="Courier New"](Batavia - Dutch East Indies) The first warning of an attack came from the roar of a huge explosion out at sea north of Batavia. After some speculation, a consensus emerged around the idea that a Japanese fleet had come too close and one of its ships had hit a mine.

As if to confirm our story, a second explosion erupted, this time illuminating a battleship not far off of the coast.

There did not seem to be any permanent damage. We could not see any fires from burning enemy ships, which we almost certainly would have seen.

Then the shells came in.

The Japanese focused on the coastal defenses - the guns set up to fire on any hostile ship that approached the city. The guns on the battleship outranged the artillery that the Dutch had set up in the city's defense - and the Japanese knew exactly where to shoot.

The bombardment left only one 75mm coastal gun functioning, and had destroyed one of the 120 mm guns.

The Japanese carriers that had been dominating the skies over Batavia seem to have gone. We are left with control of the air - with whatever airplanes and pilots we had left. The British and Dutch were putting those planes to work, attacking the Japanese that surrounded the city of Batavia.

By day's end, allied pilots would fly fifty sorties against Japanese ground forces surrounding Batavia.

Early in the afternoon, the Japanese launched a serious attack against the western defenses of Batavia. The attack started with a heavy artillery bombardment, which the allies were more than happy to answer in kind. Then came wave after wave of troops.

The assault forced a part of the 14th Division out of its fortifications. However, the division organized a counter-attack. By evening, they had driven the Japanese out and restored their line.

As the battle ranged, injured soldiers started to flow into the hospitals. They were cared for as well as we could, but Batavia was running out of some basic medical supplies. City hospitals became field hospitals where much of its equipment became make-shift and improvised.

The battle cost the allies 200 killed, wounded, and missing - two percent of its force. It cost the Japanese an equal amount. However, the Japanese could get replacements into the battle. The allies are not able to be reinforced at this time.[/font]


The Thayne Reports are published by allied intelligence and distributed to senior officers serving in the Pacific Theater of Operation in order to give these officers an understanding of the overall military situation. These top secret reports contain the best and most up-to-date information available at the time of their writing. Revealing any of the contents of these reports will be punished as treason.

[Thayne]

THE THAYNE REPORTS: THE ADMIRALS' EDITION - MARCH 4, 1942

HAS JAPAN ABANDONED THE ELLICE ISLANDS?

• Yorktown (Ellice Islands) - Allied Carriers Raid Ellice Islands
• Bandoeng (Java) - 488 Squadron Makes its Third Ace
• Tanna (New Hebrides) - Seaplane Tender Hulbert Sinks as Evacuation of New Caledonia Begins
• Cairns (Australia) - Rescue of Port Moresby Defenders Continues
• Perth (Australia) - I Australian Corps Headquarters heads to Columbo

These are the stories that define the War in the Pacific on Wednesday, March 4, 1942.


Allied Carriers Bomb Ellice Islands

(TRH) American intelligence is wondering about the possibility that the Japanese have abandoned the Ellice Islands after occupying one of the islands earlier in the year.

The American carrier group consisting of Saratoga, Yorktown, and the damaged Lexington sailed to the Ellice Islands and attacked the Japanese occupied island of Vaitupu.

The Carrier group was withdrawing from its attack on the Japanese on Espirito Santo in the New Hebrides islands. The raid on Vaitupu in the Ellice Island chain was taken as a target of opportunity.

The Ellice Islands are due north of the Fiji-Samoa complex. Japanese forces occupied the northern island of Viatupu in January. American carriers sailing past the island chain at the time of the Japanese invasion prevented the Japanese from landing a force on the southern island, which remains free of Japanese occupation.

Intelligence officials are puzzling over the reports from the pilots on the Viatupu raid that they saw no signs of Japanese troops occupying the island.

Lexington, now returning to Pearl Harbor to repair bomb damage it sustained fighting Japanese carriers near Tanna, will remain in the neighborhood of Vaitupu and send over some photo-reconnaissance flights to study the possibility.

If the news holds that the Japanese have abandoned the base turns out to be true, Admiral Nimitz, commander in chief of the Pacific, has told Thayne Report that he would consider landing a force on Vaitupu and reclaiming the island if the Japanese have truly gone.


Allies Maul Jap Bomber Raid - 488 Squadron Crowns its Third Ace

(TRH) There are now three fighter aces in the Pacific War, and all three of them belong to New Zealand's 488 squadron.

Flight Officer Frank Johnstone became the third ace when what is left of 488 squadron intercepted a Japanese bomber raid heading towards the airfield at Bandoeng, about 70 miles east of Batavia in western Java.

The fighters caught a flight of 18 Betty bombers coming to the airport without fighter escort. They shot down six, while anti-aircraft batteries at Bandoeng shot down a seventh bomber. They sent several other planes back with heavy damage.


Reinforcements and Supply Reach Tanna Base

(TRH) The allied base on Tanna saw a lot of activity as the seaplane tender Hulbert sank, the fast-transport destroyer Manley delivered much-needed supplies, and the evacuation of New Caledonia continued with the arrival of the New Zealand 17th Machine Gun Battalion.

Tanna is the island base the allies established on the southern side of the New Hebrides chain, west of Fiji. While intelligence reports continue to bring news that the Japanese plan to occupy New Caledonia with a substantial force, Tanna is meant as an initial foothold for what will eventually be a push to first isolate the Japanese on New Caledonia, and then to retake the island.

The Thayne Reporter on Tanna filed this report.

[font="Courier New"](Tanna - New Hebrides) The flames on the seaplane tender Hulbert finally went out as the ship listed and sank in the early morning hours. The ship remains where it was anchored on the northern side of the harbor, surrounded by pool of oil.

Fires continue to burn on its companion ship, Thornton as well. However, those fires are mostly under control and it appears that the ship will be salvaged.

Japanese dive bombers had hit both ships in an air raid two days ago.

In spite of the destruction of the seaplane tenders, the pilots of VP-51 and VP-71 fired up their PBYs and headed west to New Caledonia to pick up more ANZAC soldiers. They left in 15-minute intervals and returned this time with elements of the 17th Machinegun Battalion. Americans escorted the New Zealand soldiers to their assembly area to wait the arrival of the rest of the unit.

The New Zealand machine gunners join 250 soldiers from the 32nd Australian Battalion already brought off of New Caledonia.

Unfortunately, one of the effects of bringing more troops to Tanna - many of whom are underequipped because of what they cannot bring with them on the planes - is that it puts more of a strain on the supplies here in Tanna. And those supplies are running short.

All day today, fighter and transport airplanes flew in from Fiji to the east. However, since the airlift began, three of the transport airplanes the army had been using have crashed. The wreckage of two of them sit here, just off the runway, where the cargo-laden planes had been unable to stop before reaching the end of the short fighter-strip built here.

However, at about 11:30 last night, the destroyer Manley showed up. Colonel Shoup had work crews already in place and, in four hours, the soldiers removed 60 tons of food and supplies from the destroyer, which was gone by morning.

With the Japanese carriers liable to show up at any minute, we had no interest in seeing Manley suffering the fate of Hulbert.

A second supply-laden destroyer is due tonight.

These are fragments of a larger resupply effort that had been planned before the Japanese carriers destroyed the two seaplane tenders. A larger resupply effort will be necessary if Tanna is to be kept fully operational.[/font]


Rescue of Port Moresby Garrison Continues

(TRH) Another massive seaplane evacuation is continuing in Northeastern Australia, where seaplane squadrons No. 11 and No. 20 of the Royal Australian Air Force, augmented by the American VP-72, are trying to rescue the survivors of the Port Moresby garrison.

Over 250 soldiers of the Lark Battalion, originally stationed at Rabaul and previously evacuated to Port Moresby, are now in Cairns. Nearly 400 soldiers from the 15th Royal Australian Base Force have also been rescued.

In these rescue operations, the pilots bring in whatever troops they can find along the New Guinea coast. Typically, when a plane lands to pick up one group of survivors, others are drawn to the area.

Unfortunately, the Japanese are just as likely to notice the allied operations as well.

To avoid the Japanese, the seaplanes here take off well before dawn so they reach the New Guinea coast at first light. As quickly as they can, the swoop down, pick up what passengers they can, and come back. The 20 seaplanes involved in the rescue operation can typically bring back 200 soldiers each day.


I Australian Corps HQ Loads at Perth for Columbo

(TRH) As a part of the negotiated agreement that has put Australia in charge of protecting the island of Ceylon off the southern coast of India, Australians are moving the I Australian Corps Headquarters to Columbo.

The headquarters staff consisting of over 1500 soldiers in charge of everything from logistics to entertainment will begin boarding two ships that have been brought to Perth specifically for this purpose - the former cruise ship Aquitania and the converted merchant ship Corfu.

Aquitania was selected for this mission because of its ability to hold a large number of passengers its ability to deliver those passengers at a cruising speed of 20 knots. Aquitania will sail ahead of the slower-moving Corfu.

The fleet will take a long route to Columbo in the hopes of avoiding German and Japanese raiders in the Indian Ocean.

The Thayne Reports are published by allied intelligence and distributed to senior officers serving in the Pacific Theater of Operation in order to give these officers an understanding of the overall military situation. These top secret reports contain the best and most up-to-date information available at the time of their writing. Revealing any of the contents of these reports will be punished as treason.

[Thayne]

THE THAYNE REPORTS: THE ADMIRALS' EDITION - MARCH 5, 1942

AIR BATTLE OVER BURMA

• Moulmein (Burma) - Jap Fighters Intercept Bombing Mission over South Burma
• Bandoeng (Java) - 488 Squadron's Newest Ace Killed in Action
• Efate (New Hebrides) - Japanese Forces Occupy Efate, Threaten to Isolate Tanna
• Vaitupu (Ellice Islands) - Reconnaissance Supports Japanese Abandonment of Vaitupu

These are the stories that define the War in the Pacific on Thursday, March 5, 1942.


7th Bomber Group Mauled at Moulmein

(TRH) The first major air battle of the war in Burma took place when 11 B-17 bombers of the 7th Bomber Group encountered over 20 Japanese fighters in the air over Moulmein in Southern Burma.

Our Thayne Reporter in Calcutta gives us the story.

[font="Courier New"](Calcutta - India) "Fighters! 8:00 High!"

The shout came individually over each airplane's radio, shocking gunners who had spent every mission before this as passive passengers and observers accustomed to seeing nothing but clouds and the jungles of Burma below. They had been spending most of the flight huddled in the thin sub-freezing, wind-chilled air of the upper atmosphere, speaking into their oxygen masks and struggling to stay alert.

Shortly before reaching their target, the planes descended to a bombing altitude of 6,000 feet. Without fighters to challenging them, or even much anti-aircraft to fly through, the bombers have been coming in low on these missions for better accuracy. The once-freezing crew started to shed layers as the hot, moist jungle air flooded the bombers.

Then the call came in. Anxious pilots reported the discovery to other pilots, who spread the news among their crew. Gunners threw off gloves and coats and scrambled to their weapons.

The rush of an air battle temporarily erased months of training. This was nothing like safely firing a gun during a training exercise. This was the real thing. People could die. "It's them or us."

Pilots warned their crews to calm down and reminded them of their jobs. "Call out the fighters.", "Cut the chatter." "Short bursts - save your ammo!"

The crew started to remember their training and work together.

"Holt's Pistol," a bomber piloted by Lieutenant George Holt, became the first bomber to shoot down an enemy fighter. Many others inflicted damage and claimed to have destroyed other fighters, but Holt's was the only kill universally agreed to. The plane, coming at the formation from it's 10:00 position, suddenly pulled up, trailed smoke, and exploded.

All of the bombers made it home safely, but seven crew members had been wounded in the fighting. The Japanese fighters also rattled the pilots to such a degree that the formation merely caught the edge of the Moulmein airfield, according to photographs taken during and after the flight.

After landing, crews looked over their planes, counting the bullet holes that the flow of air over the airframe ripped open, and at pieces of wings and tails missing entirely.

Many of the crew members were giddy at the fact that they were once again on solid ground. Others stepped away from their planes, conscious of the fact that they were safe, only to collapse on the ground or find a place to throw up - the excitement of the mission being too much for their systems to handle. Some couldn't stop talking. Others couldn't find anything to say.

An hour after the last plane had landed, the ground crew declared that the 7th Bomber Group had only nine planes fit to fly. Shortly after that, orders came down that the 7th Bomber Group was to stand down until further notice.

Back at Air Headquarters- India, Air Marshal Playfair looked over his mission and his priorities and tried to figure out the best thing to do with the air groups that remained active. The Japanese had hit the British at Shwebo in central Burma hard and were near to completing their goal of capturing central Burma. Intelligence reported that they were also repairing their facilities at Pegu and Rangoon, both of which were under the newly established air umbrella at Moulmein.

He gave his orders for the next day. British medium bombers would help the British army at Shwebo and hit infrastructure targets in central Burma. The 19th Bomber Group would attack Rangoon. The orders rapidly flowed down the chain of command, setting the stage for another set of air battles over Burma.[/font]


Pacific War's Third Ace Shot Down over Java

Flight Officer Frank Johnstone of New Zealand, the third and most recent fighter ace in the Pacific Theater, was killed in action today intercepting a Japanese carriers-based air raid against Bandoeng in central Java.

The attack probably came as retaliation for the base's mauling of a Japanese bomber squadron the day before, in which pilots flying from Bandoeng shot down six Japanese Betty bombers had damaged many others. By a cruel turn of fate, the Japanese managed to kill the pilot who became an ace confronting that earlier raid.

In addition to killing Johnston, the Japanese carrier-based fighters shot down a dozen allied fighter pilots in the attack without a loss. Once again, the Japanese carrier-based Zero fighters with the pilots to handle them proved more than a match for the obsolete British Buffalo fighters.

At the end of the day, the famed 488 Squadron which has produced all three fighter aces of the Pacific War to date, found itself without a single plane that could take to the air. The British and Dutch air forces also disbanded three fighter squadrons that ended the day with no more planes left to fly.

The attack prompted outrage in some parts of the Royal Air Force as junior officers asked why quality pilots are being forced to give up their lives in substandard airplanes. They pushed for a policy where the best pilots would be matched with the best planes.

Finding merit in the idea, the Combined Chiefs of Staff ordered a dozen of its best air crews in Java to Soerabaja, where submarines will pick them up and take them to Australia. While those demanding "the best pilots be given the best planes" were probably thinking that the planes should be brought to Java, the Combined Chiefs of Staff asserted that it had no way to get planes to Java efficiently.


Japan Occupies Efate, New Hebrides

(TRH) Japanese soldiers occupied the island of Efate in the center of the New Hebrides island chain west of Fiji.

Efate is only 145 miles northwest of the allied occupied island of Tanna, the toehold on the New Hebrides island chain Admiral Chester Nimitz has been trying to build up in the past several weeks. This puts the new Japanese base within range of the P-39 fighter-bombers of the 39th Pursuit Squadron stationed on Tanna.

This will also put Tanna within easy range of Japanese airplanes flying out of Efate. Currently, Efate has no air field capable of handling military fighters, but it is expected that the Japanese will immediately go to work building an airstrip, making the supply and reinforcement of Tanna much more difficult.

Meanwhile, Tanna continues to receive reinforcements in the form of Australian and New Zealand soldier evacuating New Caledonia. The 17th Machinegun Battalion and those elements of the 32nd Australian Battalion originally stationed on New Caledonia have been air-lifted to Tanna. The next unit ordered to evacuate New Caledonia are the engineers of the 21st New Zealand Pioneer Coy. Its crew will be put to work building quarters and setting up defenses for the Australian and New Zealand reinforcements.

The destroyer transport Waters took another 60 tons of supply to Tanna. However, it failed to clear the island before daybreak, making it vulnerable to air attacks. Fortunately, no air attacks came.

However, nearly 1000 tons of supplies destined for Tanna ended up on the ocean floor when a Japanese submarine put three torpedoes into the side of xAP Malaita. This was the second failed attempt to significantly improve the supply situation on Tanna. Allied military planners are now trying to work on a third mission to supply the garrison. This third attempt will likely emply Yorktown and Saratoga, due in Suva in the next couple of days.


Reconnaissance Supports Japanese Abandonment of Vaitupu

(TRH) Reconnaissance aircraft flying from the Lexington task force seems to support the thesis that the Japanese have abandoned Vaitupu in the Ellice Islands.

Photographs of the island do not show any clear signs of a Japanese ground force on the island, nor the presence of Japanese ships.

In light of this information, Admiral Chester Nimitz, Commander in Chief of the Pacific, has called upon his staff to research the possibility of putting an occupation force on Vaitupu. This landing, if and when it takes place, will better secure the supply routes to the Fiji-Samoa complex.

Lexington, though still damaged, will next sail to Japanese-held Baker island where it will join with newly repaired Enterprise and the training carrier Hornet in a raid on that island, before returning to Pearl Harbor.

[Thayne]

THE THAYNE REPORTS: THE ADMIRALS' EDITION - MARCH 6, 1942

AMERICANS ADVANCE IN THE NORTH PACIFIC


• Adak (Alaska) - Americans Move Forward in the North Pacific
• Tanna (New Hebrides) - Japs Attack on Tanna Further Damages Thornton
• Cairns (Australia) - Over 1000 Australian soldiers rescued from New Guinea
• Lautem (Timor) - Japanese Reinforce Invasion Force
• Shwebo (Burma) - Hard-hitting Japanese Attack Pushes Defenders to Shwebo

These are the stories that define the War in the Pacific on Friday, March 6, 1942.


Allies Move to Occupy Adak in the Aleutian Islands, Alaska

(TRH) A convoy of 6 ships bearing the 132nd Infantry Regiment will move to occupy the central Aleutian island of Adak in the next few days.

Adak sits half way down the chain and 350 miles closer to Japan than the current furthest allied base on Unmak.

Adak Island is regarding to have the potential to serve as a significant forward base for supporting allied forces in the North Pacific. The northeastern section of the island has room for a significant air base situated right next to a well protected natural port.

Previous to this, Adak has been under the watchful eye of the armed merchant cruisers Prince Henry and Prince Robert. They have also made patrols to the end of the Aleutian chain and back. So far there has been no sign of the Japanese in the North Pacific, other than submarine activity.

Admiral Chester Nimitz has also ordered the heavy cruiser San Francisco and a destroyer squadron to Adak to defend from a potential Japanese attempt at landing on the island. Over the course of the summer, additional support will be brought forth in order to make full use of the potential that Adak Island provides as a forward base against Japan.


Tanna Bombed; Seaplane Tender Thornton Damaged; Battle for Supplies Continues

(TRH) Another Japanese air raid against the allied defenses on Tanna, in the southern portion of the New Hebrides island chain, resulted in further damage to the seaplane tender Thornton.

Thornton's fires from an earlier raid had been put out. Its crew, and the survivors of the sinking of its companion ship Hubert, were preparing to limp back to Suva for more substantive repairs when the attack came. Only one dive bomber struck Thornton but, the accumulated damage is extensive. Thornton is not expected to recover from this blow.

The Japanese raid also destroyed one of the PBYs currently helping in the evacuation of New Caledonia.


1100 Australians Rescued from New Guinea

(TRH) Over 1100 Australian soldiers so far have been rescued from the jungles of New Guinea. An estimated 1500 soldiers are still in New Guinea looking for an opportunity to return to Australia.

The rescue operations so far have been costly. The attempt to rescue the stranded soldiers has resulted in the destruction of five PBY flying boats, with the deaths of two crews. However, the rescue operations are continuing and VP-72, the squadron that has suffered the losses, has recently received five replacement aircraft.

The rescue operations are currently bringing out about 150 soldiers per day. Rescue operations are expected to continue for at least another 10 days.

These are the remnants of the 8000 soldiers that had once been the garrison for the town of Port Moresby, which the Japanese overran in a single day. The Thayne Reporter originally sent to Port Moresby to cover the battle is still counted among the missing.


Japanese Land Reinforcements on Timor

(TRH) The battle for Timor continues with Japan landing additional reinforcements near Lautem in eastern Timor.

Estimates now place the size of the Japanese invasion force in eastern Timor at 2000 soldiers, while the landing force on western Timor remains at 5,000 soldiers.

Japanese ships involved in the east Timor landings exchanged fire with Australian guns defending the city of Lautem, but little damage was done on each side.

Some military strategists are vocally condemning the lack of activity on the part of the defenders at Lautem. Specifically, they insist that the defenders should have driven the Japanese back to the sea immediately, but that the opportunity may be lost as Japan adds more reinforcements.

These critics have spoken of what they call "the myth of Japanese invulnerability" which has prevented allied forces from taking any type of aggressive action against the Japanese on the ground. They credit Admiral Nimitz in the Pacific for naval raids that have so far claimed several dozen Japanese ships and caused extensive damage to Japan's forward bases.

"There is only one way to drive the Japanese off of Timor," one military strategist pointed out. "That is to attack them and to drive them out."

These views have been in conflict with the received opinion that the efforts at Timor were a delaying action - a way of slowing the Japanese advance to give the Australians and other allies time to build up their militaries.

Against this view, the faction that is pushing for attacking the Japanese on Timor argue that driving Japan from the island would certainly delay some of their plans.


Japanese Assaults Drive British Army Into Shwebo

(TRH) A strong Japanese assault broke through the defenses south of Shwebo in Burma and forced the British back from its defensive lines and into the town itself.

The Thayne Reporter in Shwebo filed a report.

[font="Courier New"](Shwebo - Burma) Forgoing its tradition of moving around allied defenses, the Japanese this time launched a direct assault at the British army south of Shwebo, in central Burma.

The British had set their defensive line on the north bank of a dry river bed. There, they held off an attack yesterday with few casualties. However, today, the Japanese sent nearly 300 tanks against the British line. The few anti-tank guns that the British still had functioning managed to destroy or disable nearly a dozen Japanese tanks. However, strength of the Japanese attack soon overwhelmed the defenders.

The British are currently trying to fortify the town of Shwebo itself, focusing heavily on maintaining control of the airport for another day. American flying boats and Dutch, Chinese, and British cargo planes are flying into the Shwebo airport constantly and flying the sick and wounded to Calcutta and Ledo respectively.

At the same time, British commander Major General Smyth has ordered patrols north to keep the road out of town free of refugees that would otherwise bog down and confuse a British withdraw.

The British received some help today from allied air forces when three dozen Blenheim and Hudson bombers hit the line of the Japanese advance. This had the effect of slowing the Japanese down for a few moments, supporting the British efforts at an orderly withdraw. However, after the bombers had left, the Japanese quickly recovered from the air raid and resumed their assault.

News reached us earlier today that the Japanese have how occupied the airfield at Taung Gyi, about 100 miles south of here. This means that the allied air forces are probably going to be too busy trying to close the Taung Gyi airfield to help in the defense of Shwebo. As bloody and difficult as today has been, the soldiers here are of the opinion that tomorrow, things will be worse.[/font]


The Thayne Reports are published by allied intelligence and distributed to senior officers serving in the Pacific Theater of Operation in order to give these officers an understanding of the overall military situation. These top secret reports contain the best and most up-to-date information available at the time of their writing. Revealing any of the contents of these reports will be punished as treason.

[Thayne]

THE THAYNE REPORTS: THE ADMIRALS' EDITION - MARCH 7, 1942

SHWEBO, BURMA, FALLS TO THE JAPANESE


• Shwebo (Burma) - Shwebo Falls; B-17 Shot Down Over Rangoon
• Batavia (Java) - Japan Makes Major Push to Take Batavia
• Paoshan (China) - Chang Kai-Chek orders 2nd Group Army to Paoshan
• Suva (Fiji) - Nimitz Orders Third Supply Attempt for Tanna


These are the stories that define the War in the Pacific on Saturday, March 7, 1942.


Japanese Capture Shwebo, Burma

(TRH) The Japanese army captured the town of Shwebo, completing its conquest of central Burma.

A Thayne Reporter in central Burma filed this report.

[font="Courier New"](Shwebo - Burma) I am writing this report from a jeep moving north on a crowded road out of Shwebo.

Three days ago, the British here commanded 10,000 men in the defense of Shwebo. Today, it leaves Shwebo behind with an army of barely 4,000 men.

Most of the missing soldiers have not been killed, wounded, or captured. They have simply tossed off their uniforms and became civilians again, in some cases joining the crowds that cheer the Japanese as liberators and even go so far as to join the Burma units that are forming to serve the Japanese.

Major General Smyth had never thought of Shwebo as a town he could defend.

It did provide a couple of advantages to a defending army. The western half of Shwebo is nearly surrounded by what might be considered a slightly lopsided square "moat" of sorts. This 100-meter-wide square moat is nearly 4 kilometers long on a side.

It is not a true moat in that it has footpaths crossing it every few hundred meters, and there are some areas where the moat is missing entirely. The entire southwest corner of the moat - ironically, the corner facing the attacking Japanese - has been filled in over the years to make room for the city to grow. However, it still provides a significant obstacle for any attacking force.

To the west of the moat is a canal that provides defensive advantages to a force on the left flank of the British line.

However, the terrain to the east of Shwebo consists of dry, open fields - perfect for an armored unit to travel across and get around to the north side of the city.

To prevent being surrounded, Smyth had ordered units into the field to delay the Japanese armor while he arranged the orderly retreat of the rest of his army into the jungles of northern Burma.

The Japanese did not send their armor around the east. Instead, it made a direct infantry assault against the town of Shwebo itself.

They started the attack at 4:30 am, concentrating their artillery on the British line on the southern edge of Shwebo. After a half hour of shelling, they marched their artillery barrage north into the twon itself, while the Japanese infantry moved into areas recently shelled.

The Burma Frontier Force (also known as the BFF Brigade) caught the worst of the Japanese offensive. This unit broke apart and made its way north, not as an organized brigade, but as routed individual soldiers.

The rest of the army retreated as best it could to the north.

No doubt, the Japanese are going to pursue us and give us no opportunity to rest. Until we reach the jungle we are vulnerable to the faster-moving Japanese armor.

For all practical purposes, the last real battle for Burma has been fought and lost. Japan has captured Burma. The question now becomes: What does Japan capture next?[/font]


Chang Kai-Shek Reinforces Western Border

(TRH) Seeing the Japanese success in central Burma as a threat to western China, Generalissimo Chang Kai-Shek of China has ordered the 2nd Group Army To bolster the defenses on the western border with Burma.

Ironically, Japan's potential new route into China is the same road Road that the British and Americans had built to carry supplies into China from Rangoon - the Burma Road.

The 2nd Group Army is one of the larger and best equipped armies in China. Its three divisions each are more powerful than the combined strength of the four divisions currently making the trek to Calcutta to be re-equipped and re-supplied and re-trained.

Chang Kai-Shek has also been advised to look that Japan might might try to move an army into western China up from French Indochina, perhaps splitting the western armies by capturing Kunming. Against this threat, Chang Kai-Shek has ordered the 3rd Chinese Cavalry Corps to Kunming.

If Japan decides not to press an attack into China through its frontier with Burma, the 2nd Group Army may be ordered to take the fight to Japan in eastern Burma as a part of the China Option for the British army to move through China and recapture Hong Kong.


Air Headquarters - India Battles Jap Fighters, Weather

(TRH) Air Headquarters - India battled Japanese fighters and the weather on a day that saw the first loss of a B-17 Bomber to enemy fighters in a bombing raid to Rangoon.

Twenty-one bombers of the still-active 19th Bomber Group reached Rangoon and bombed their targets without encountering any serious opposition. The flight hit the airport as well as supply centers around the Rangoon rail yards, then formed up again for the flight home, when the Japanese fighters showed up.

The fighters, probably scrambling out of Moulmein, focused their attention on the rear bombers, shooting down one of them and damaging two others. The crews of the remaining planes reported seeing seven chutes open up from the downed airplane.

At the same time, weather over Tyung Gyi protected that region from the planned bombing. This area remains high on the bomber target list, while the key targets in and around Shwebo get added to the list now get added to that list. In prioritizing these targets, the 7th Bomber Group operating out of Dacca remains inactive as crews make its bombers airworthy again.


Japan Launches Major Attack Against Batavia, Java

(TRH) Japanese forces have begun to a major push to take Batavia.

The push is focusing along the roadways that enter Batavia from the east. They have broken the Dutch line and pushed the defenders back 15 miles on a wide front. The Dutch report inflicting a significant number of casualties on the Japanese army, but the Japanese kept on coming nonetheless, and in numbers so great they overwhelmed the defenders.

The size of the Japanese army committed to the capture of Batavia is estimated to be three times the size of the defensive army. A significant portion of those are committed to this drive from the east.

The ground forces received some help from bombers flying out of Batavia and Boedang, to the east. Allied air forces flew a total of 32 sorties against the advancing Japanese in an effort to slow them down. The fact that the Dutch defenders were able to hold on and form some semblance of a new defensive line might be attribuatable to the efforts of these pilots.

The attack has brought the Japanese to within 10 miles of the Batavia airfield, which is believed to be the ultimate objective of this drive.



Tanna Resupply Mission Ordered

(TRH) (Suva - Fiji) The Pacific fleet at Fiji has been ordered out on a third attempt to to deliver supplies to Tanna, the allied base in the southern part of the New Hebrides island chain.

A Japanese carrier force patrolling the area frightened off the first attempt, while a Japanese submarine sunk the second attempt. Meanwhile, the Japanese have occupied Espirito Santo and Efate in the north and central portions of the New Hebrides islands respectively, increasing the danger to the troops at Tanna

This mission will involve two transports loaded with supplies for quick unloading at Tanna. An American carrier force consisting of Yorktown and Saratoga will protect the resupply convoy. A surface attack force consisting of 17 cruisers protected by two destroyer squadrons will provide additional protection.

In addition to seeing the supplies delivered safely to Tanna, this task force has also been ordered to assault the Japanese landings on Efate, north of Tanna.

On Efate, military intelligence is puzzling over the possibility that Japan has captured this island only to abandon it. F4 photo recon airplanes operating out of Tanna are not showing any signs of enemy activity. There are still Japanese transport ships anchored off shore. However, these might be for the purpose of of picking up troops and evacuating the island.

There is some concern over encountering the Japanese carrier force patrolling the region. In the last encounter between the Japanese and American aircraft carriers, the Japanese fighter pilots destroyed the American squadrons, but managed to score only light damage against Lexington. Pacific Commander in Chief Chester Nimitz is worried that the carriers might not be so lucky on a second encounter, and he wishes to continue to use the carrier forces on these types of raids.

Carrier-based raids in the South Pacific have sunk nearly 50 Japanese transport and escort ships since the start of the war, as well as a number of cruisers and destroyers.

Meanwhile, on Tanna, the seaplane tender AVD Thornton succumbed to its wounds and sank, joining is companion ship Hulbert. The sinking of Thornton and Hulbert highlights the dangers of having naval forces spend any considerable amount of time in Tanna with the Japanese carrier force around.


The Thayne Reports are published by allied intelligence and distributed to senior officers serving in the Pacific Theater of Operation in order to give these officers an understanding of the overall military situation. These top secret reports contain the best and most up-to-date information available at the time of their writing. Revealing any of the contents of these reports will be punished as treason.

[Thayne]

THE THAYNE REPORTS: THE ADMIRALS' EDITION - MARCH 8, 1942

BATAVIA SURRENDERS

• Batavia (Java) - Dutch Army Surrenders Batavia
• Suva (Fiji) - Resupply of Tanna, Raid on Efate Launched
• Yasawa Islands (Fiji) - Buildup of the Fiji-Samoa Island Complex Continues
• Baker Island (South Pacific) - Allied Carriers Attack Baker Island


These are the stories that define the War in the Pacific on Sunday, March 8, 1942.


Dutch Army at Batavia Surrenders

(TRH) The Dutch army at Batavia has surrendered.

Lieutenant General Ludolph van Oyen, commander of the Dutch forces at Batavia, unconditionally surrendered the city to the Japanese at 5:00 pm local time after a massive Japanese assault split the defending army, capturing both the air port and harbor.

van Oyen ordered the surrender to prevent the needless slaughter of soldiers and to prevent further destruction of the city after the Dutch army had collapsed, ending any possibility of an organized defense.

In negotiations with the Japanese, van Oyen offered an unconditional surrender at 5:00 that evening. Both armies sent the word out among their soldiers and, as 5:00 approached, the sounds of the battle in the city slowly died down. At 5:00 the artillery stopped and, except for scattered rifle and machine-gun fire, the city fell silent. Civilians went to work putting out the many fires that had spring up in the city while the Japanese began the task of collecting prisoners and equipment.

By press time, Thayne Report was unable to determine why the Japanese negotiated a surrender at 5:00 pm, rather than pressing their traditional demand for an immediate and unconditional surrender.

The Japanese advance had been so rapid that they managed to capture the airport before the air units stationed there could fly off and join the rest of the Dutch air force at Bandoeng. They killed or captured a number of the best British and Dutch pilots and took possession of nearly 20 airplanes.

In capturing Batavia, the Japanese have captured a strategically significant port. Batavia is well situated for hosting Japanese raids into the eastern Indian Ocean where they can threaten the shipment of supplies to Australia.

However, in surrendering the city of Batavia to the Japanese, the Dutch government in Java did not surrender. The seat of government had been moved to Bandoeng, a mountain city about 75 miles east of Batavia. Over 15,000 Dutch troops have fortified this mountain stronghold and stockpiled enough supplies for a lengthy siege. The bulk of the allied air forces defending Batavia are also stationed at Bandoeng.

The Dutch have promised to "resist to the last" in order to buy the allies time to consolidate their defenses elsewhere.


New Hebrides Raid Sails from Suva

(TRH) The American navy at Suva in the Fiji-Samoa Island Complex has left on a mission to deliver much needed supplies to Tanna and to raid the Japanese-held island of Efate northwest of Tanna.

Our Thayne Reporter sailing with Yorktown submitted this report.

[font="Courier New"](Yorktown - Fiji-Samoa) We were only in Suva long enough to take on supplies, refuel, and replace some airplanes lost in our previous battles or through the normal wear and tear of navy life.

We left Suva as two separate task forces. One force, the air attack force, is built around the carriers Yorktown and Saratoga under the command of Captain Ramsey on Saratoga, who has overall command of the mission. The second force, a surface attack force, consists of 17 cruisers and 8 destroyers.

The ships' crews, as usual, remained unaware of the nature of our mission until the next morning, after the ships had been put at sea.

The mission, they were told, is to attack the Japanese held island of Efate at the center of the New Hebrides chain of islands and less than 150 miles from the Allied base at Tanna. Following that, we are to see to the safe delivery of nearly 4000 tons of cargo to the allied base at Tanna.

Two transport ships, President Madison and Murada, are currently being loaded at Suva and will join us on the second day of our mission for delivery to Tanna on the third day.

We will be sailing into waters which the Japanese have been guarding with two carriers that came near to destroying Lexington and Yorktown a couple of weeks ago. The Japanese fighters managed to win control over the skies. However, they inflicted only minor damage on Lexington in spite of setting off a bomb in an ammunition storage locker.

Lexington is currently on its way back to Pearl Harbor for repairs. However, it was not so badly damaged that it could not take part in raids on Espirito Santo, Vatiupu, and Baker Islands on its way to Pearl Harbor.

The carrier force will have the advantage of sailing under the air umbrella of the 39th Pursuit Squadron on Tanna. However, Admiral Nimitz, commander in chief of the Pacific, has given Captain Ramsey orders to avoid a head-to-head battle with the Japanese carriers.

According to Nimitz, the American carriers have proved their worth attacking Japanese troop and supply transports at the forward bases, and he does not wish to lose the capacity to continue these raids. So far, the American carriers, so far, have sunk or damaged more than 50 Japanese transport ships at Wake, the Gilbert Islands (2 raids), Baker Island (2 raids), the Ellice Islands, and Espirito Santo.[/font]


Allies Complete New Airbase on Yasawa Islands - Fiji

(TRH) The allied operation to build up the Fiji-Samoa island complex into a major staging area for the war against Japan reached a milestone today with the completion of a new airbase on the Yasawa Islands.

The airbase is located 100 miles northwest of the major Allied base at Suva. It is meant to provide partial protection of Suva by guarding the northwest route - the route a Japanese assault force would likely take.

The Yasawa Islands base is also slightly better suited for supporting the allied base at Tanna in the New Hebrides islands.

The 35th Pursuit Squadron and the 18th Recon Squadron spent the day moving their operations out to the island base.

One of the reasons for constructing the base is to disburse the allied air force so that all of its airplanes are not sitting on the same easy-to-shell or easy-to-capture airfield. Within the next couple of days, the allies will finish another island airstrip near Suva, this one a hundred miles to the south on Kandavu Island.

A third air base is being built on the island of Savusavu to the northeast of Suva. However, the construction of the Savusavu air base has fallen significantly behind schedule.

With the construction of that base, the allies will have a total of five interlocking air bases in the Fiji Islands, including the bases of Suva and Nidi. The Suva and Nida bases are currently undergoing expansion so support heavier bombers.

Hornet Tastes Battle on Baker Island Raid

(TRH) American aircraft carriers Enterprise, the damaged Lexington and the training carrier Hornet, under the command of Vice Admiral Marc Mitscher, combined their strengths today in an attack on Japanese held Baker Island.

Baker Island is located 400 miles northwest of Canton Island in the waters south of Pearl Harbor. Canton Island represents a forward island base protecting the shipping routes from the United States to the Fiji-Samoa island complex.

This attack represents the allied raid on Baker Island since the Japanese occupied it.

In spite of being considered a training carrier, with obsolete biwing airplanes unsuitable for a fight against modern Japanese carrier squadrons, Hornet accompanied Enterprise on this raid to give its crew some combat experience.

Military intelligence considered it unlikely that the Japanese would put up any resistance at Baker Island. Japan's fleet carriers are known to be split among task forces at New Caledonia and the Philippines. Regular recon flights out of Canton Island do not show any signs of a Japanese air squadron at Baker Island.

Nimitz also gave the task force the job of meeting up with the damaged carrier Lexington and four battleships and escorting them safely to Pearl Harbor. The four battleships are returning from a mission to bombard Espirito Santo in the New Hebrides island and to film the bombardment for propaganda purposes. Enterprise and Hornet met Lexington southeast of Baker Island and incorporated its diminished air squadrons into the planned attack.

The standard routine called for launching scout planes before sunrise to see if the Japanese had any threats or targets of opportunity in the area. Scouts reported a couple of transport ships far to the northwest. Mitscher considered them too far away to risk an air strike against them, and ordered the planned strike against Baker Island instead.

Over 60 bombers participated in the attack, with orders to hit anything on the island that it decided might be useful to the Japanese.

The attack force met no opposition in the air and returned with only two bombers damaged in the attack.

As night fell, Mitscher ordered the task force to sail north. Dawn tomorrow will find us still within range for a second air strike against Baker Island. However, Mitscher has expressed hopes that he will find those transports within range and sink them as well.


The Thayne Reports are published by allied intelligence and distributed to senior officers serving in the Pacific Theater of Operation in order to give these officers an understanding of the overall military situation. These top secret reports contain the best and most up-to-date information available at the time of their writing. Revealing any of the contents of these reports will be punished as treason.

[Thayne]

THE THAYNE REPORTS: THE ADMIRALS' EDITION - MARCH 9, 1942

BATAVIA SURRENDERS

• Bataan (Philippines) - Philippine/American Army at Bataan Surrenders
• Efate (New Hebrides) & Baker Island - Allied Carriers Sink/Damage Over 20 Jap Transports
• Yasawa Islands (Timor) - Australian/Dutch Offensive Destroys Jap Battalion
• Imphal (India) - Two More Chinese Divisions Reach India
• Calcutta (India) - Air Forces Destroy Jap Airfields at Shwebo and Taung Gyi (Burma)


These are the stories that define the War in the Pacific on Monday, March 9, 1942.


Philippine Army Surrenders

(TRH) The American/Philippine Army on the Bataan Peninsula in the Philippines has surrendered to the Japanese force.

The force of nearly 30,000 allied soldiers had been hanging on substantially used up their stockpiles of food and ammunition long ago. Lack of ammunition for its anti-aircraft guns meant that the Japanese could bomb the defenders at will. Lack of food left the soldiers chronically weak and susceptible to disease.

More soldiers have been dying in recent days from malnutrition and disease than to the constant Japanese air and artillery attacks.

The end came when the Japanese launched an attack on Corrigador Island, the allied fortress at the mouth of Manila Harbor. During the night, they sent a landing force of combat engineers to establish a foothold on the island fortress. At dawn, a second wave of Japanese invaders came ashore, followed by a third wave later in the day.

Capturing the island fortress meant capturing the military headquarters for the allied units. Once this was in Japanese hands, the ground forces that had dug themselves in on the Bataan peninsula itself capitulated as well.

The capture of Manila will free up 60,000 Japanese troops that had been maintaining the wall around the Bataan Peninsula. It will also free up a number of air units that had been participating in the daily bombings. Military intelligence is waiting to see where Japan will put these forces to use. They expect that, after a few weeks of rest, the Philippine units will be used in a new Japanese offensive.

Allied Carriers Sink Over 20 Jap Transports

(TRH) Allied carrier forces attacking the Japanese at Efate and at Baker Island have sunk or severely damaged over 20 Japanese transport ships.

At Baker Island, the American carrier force caught two ships attempting to deliver supplies to the island. Dive bombers from Enterprise sank the two ships. Later in the afternoon, bombers from Enterprise, Hornet, and Lexington launched a second air raid against Baker Island itself.

At the island of Efate, airplanes from Yorktown and Saratoga sank or badly damaged nearly 20 cargo ships. This carrier force never got the opportunity to attack Efate itself. Instead, airplanes returning from the first strike against the Japanese transport task force rearmed and refueled for a second strike against surviving Japanese ships.

Photographs taken during the fight show that a number of the Japanese ships were heavily laden with Japanese soldiers. It is possible that an entire Japanese division may have perished in the attack. This may have been the Japanese 11th division which allied military intelligence has learned was destined to participate in the capture of New Caledonia. Of so, this raid on Efate may have saved the New Caledonia base from capture.

Military intelligence will be working to determine if this is the case.

These two raids bring the number of Japanese ships sunk in the war to date to a conservative estimate of 160 - compared to 135 allied ships lost. The loss of shipping represents the most significant blow that the allies have been able to inflict against the Japanese to date.


Gull Battalion Launches Counter-Attack; Isolates and Destroys Jap Battalion

(TRH) On the island of Timor, north of Darwin, Australia, allied forces for the first time launched a ground assault against a Japanese force.

The Australian Gull Battalion at Lautem marched out and hit a camp of approximately 500 Japanese soldiers in the jungle east of Lautem on the eastern side of Timor. In the fighting that followed, allied soldiers overran the camp in a day of fierce combat.

Over 200 allied soldiers were also wounded or killed in the fighting.

The assault represented the first actual allied ground offensive of the Pacific Theater.

Some military experts have been compared the allied ground forces in the Pacific to that of a boxer pushed up against the ropes by an aggressive opponent. Putting his arms up in front of him, the boxer thinks of nothing but warding off the next blow. This has the unfortunate effect of leaving the opponent free to attack at will.

The battle at Lautem represents the first time in the Pacific theater that an allied ground force actually took the fight to the Japanese. The result was the destruction of a Japanese battalion, though the victory came at a heavy cost.

This is seen to be in contrast to the Allied navy, where Admiral Nimitz has been sending his carrier forces out on repeated guerilla-style raids against vulnerable Japanese supply lines. Since the start of the war, Nimitz has attacked the Gilbert Islands (twice), Baker Island (three times), Wake Island, the Ellice Islands (twice), Espirito Santo, and now Efate.

The result of these raids has been the sinking of nearly 100 Japanese transport and escort ships in the South Pacific region. The costs inflicted on the enemy also include the sinking of one heavy cruiser near Baker Island and a light cruiser near Wake, as well as a large number of ground troops that were on the ships that the carriers had sunk.


Two More Chinese Divisions Reach India

(TRH) After a months-long march through the jungles of northern Burma, two Chinese divisions have reached the road network of eastern India.

The 2nd Reserve Division and 36th Chinese Division are now on a road that will take them to Imphal in western India. From there the divisions will march to Dimapur - a distance of nearly 100 miles - where they will board trains that will carry them to Calcutta.

In Calcutta, they will be refit and retrained as full strength Chinese divisions.

Cargo planes delivering some supplies to western China from eastern India will be returning with Chinese soldiers assigned to these four divisions. When these divisions are at full strength and fully trained, they will be used in an operation to retake the Burma Road and restore the flow of supplies to China.


Indian Air Forces Shut Down Jap Airfields in Central Burma

(TRH) Good flying weather in eastern India and Burma gave the Indian air force an opportunity to shut down two airfields in central Burma that the Japanese had recently captured.

Medium bombers flying out of Dimapur and Dacca in eastern India attacked the recently captured town of Shwebo in central Burma. Eighty-eight bombers participated in the Shwebo raids, arriving in three waves. Only one plane had been damaged in the operation.

At the same time, 35 B-17 bombers flying out of Calcutta hit targets in the Japanese region of Taung Gyi - in the southern part of central Burma.

The bombers encountered no opposition in the air and was able to focus its attention on hitting ground targets.

In addition to hitting the airfields, the bombers both at Shwebo and Taung Gyi attacked storage facilities and infrastructure. The bombers at Shwebo attacked the rail yard in the city as well as the two crossings that the rail line made across the Shwebo moat. They also hit storage facilities bordering the canal that serves Shwebo.

Taung Gyi is a massive and crowded urban complex that the British had established as the supply hub for the entire Shane state in central Burma. Photographs taken during and after the bombing show massive destruction in a string of direct hits on the storage facilities.


The Thayne Reports are published by allied intelligence and distributed to senior officers serving in the Pacific Theater of Operation in order to give these officers an understanding of the overall military situation. These top secret reports contain the best and most up-to-date information available at the time of their writing. Revealing any of the contents of these reports will be punished as treason.