Thayne News Campaign Reports

[Thayne]

July 23, 1942

Thayne's News Network

Editor's Note: In times of war, the news is likely to be filled with all sorts of rumor and exaggeration. The goal of the Thayne News Network is to cut through the fog of war, and provide you, our loyal readers, with as accurate a report of events on the front line as we can.

The Thayne News Network is a special service for the clients in the military industrial complex who need accurate information on the progress of the war. Any disclosure of the contents of these reports is punishable as treason.


JAP CARRIERS LEAVE WAKE

(TN – Hawaii) A Japanese carrier force that attacked Wake Island limped slowly away yesterday, moving out of range of allied fighter escort. They launched no further strikes against Wake Island, and the Wake Island air force launched no strikes against the carriers without fighters to accompany them.

PBY patrol planes were able to keep track of the Japanese carrier force. Allied military intelligence is speculating that the slow speed of the task force’s retreat is due to extensive damage done to Zuikaku the previous day.

With the Japanese force slowly retreating, Allied ships are gathering at Midway. A surface task force consisting of 3 battleships and 11 cruisers, under the protection of the carrier Wasp, are due to arrive at Midway Island later today. From Midway, allied command will decide if the want the task force to pursue the enemy ships.


Japan Cargo Ships Bombed at Buna

(TN – Townsend) Military intelligence is counting four Japanese cargo ships damaged at Buna yesterday, with a good chance that one of them was sunk. The ships are a part of a Japanese task force continuing to work to build up the Japanese forces at Buna. The ships were targeted by allied bombers stationed at Thursday Island and Port Moresby. Through the course of several attacks, two cargo ships were hit by 250 lb bombs, one was recorded hit by two 250 lb bombs.

The most damaging strike was launched by a squadron of B-25 bombers who report that they placed seven 500 lb bombs in one of the transports. Four separate airplanes report hitting the ship with at least one bomb, with one B-25 bomber allegedly hitting with three of its bombs. Allied military intelligence reports that they are confident they will soon be able to mark the ship as sunk.

However, the damage inflicted on the task force will not be enough to completely block the flow of supplies to Buna. Allied military intelligence is concerned that their planned operation to take the base may be struggling against higher odds than its planners originally intended. There are some senior advisors in South Pacific headquarters who are arguing for bypassing Buna. They have expressed some concern that Japanese activity in the area suggests that they have been informed of the allied plans.

According to sources in South Pacific Command, Admiral Nimitz is not ruling out any options at this point.

South Pacific Carriers Leave for Rendezvous at Brisbane

(TN – Noumea) The carriers Saratoga and Lexington left Sydney yesterday for a rendezvous at Brisbane with Hornet, which set sail from Noumea, New Caledonia yesterday. Nimitz hopes to put his three carriers into a task force that can help to clear the Solomon Sea of Japanese ships, and help to further isolate Buna before his planned invasion. All three ships are now carrying the new TBF torpedo bombers, which have the ability to carry a significantly greater payload to a significantly greater range.

Shortly after leaving port, Dauntless bombers from Hornet discovered a Japanese submarine lingering near the task force. After warning the fleet so that it could steer a course around the enemy ship, the dive bombers attacked the submarine and drove it deep under the water. Allied leaders are hopeful that Hornet will be able to get past the threat.

Long Island Escorts Replacement Planes to Milne Bay

(TN – Brisbane) While the three South Pacific fleet carriers plan a rendezvous at Brisbane, the escort carrier Long Island prepares to escort two cargo ships out of Brisbane for a mission to Milne Bay. The two cargo ships hold over 30 replacement planes for Milne Bay that arrived at Noumea over a week earlier. The task force will be arriving at Cairns, and may postpone the operation until it can move under the cover the Allied fleet carriers. However, it will take several days for the fleet to make the trip to Cairns, owing to the slower speeds for the transport ships.


Theobald Sends Destroyers to Kurile Islands

(TN – Dutch Harbor) Admiral Theobald, commander of allied forces in the North Pacific, approved a plan to send a squadron of destroyers and destroyer minesweepers on a raid to the Kurile Islands. The purpose of the raid is to find and possibly sink Japanese shipping along the island.

In previous months, three missions have been sent to the Kurile Islands without finding any sign of Japanese air cover or surface combat ships. A carrier squadron was able to either sink or badly damage a tanker on its mission to bombard the island of Paramushiro Jima. Later, three Canadian patrol boats sent to the Kurile Island exchanged gunfire with a Japanese tanker, though it is considered unlikely that the ships did any damage.

The larger and faster destroyers and destroyer minesweepers are expected to be able to sink any tankers or other cargo ships they may discover in the north Pacific waters.


Chinese Close on Pakhoi Infiltrators

(TN – Chungking) Two Chinese infantry corps continue to close in on and squeeze a trapped Japanese unit in the hills east of Pakhoi in southern China. The units are moving slowly to help make sure that the Japanese have no route of escape available to them.

The 28th Chinese Infantry Corps continue to move in on a coordinated front from Pakhoi that blocks all possible options for the Japanese to escape in that direction, while the 83rd Chinese Infantry Corps continues to block any escape to the North, while denying the Japanese any ability to get additional supplies. Allied bombers continuing to operate from Nanning are pounding the Japanese forces while the infantry close in.

Allied military strategists are expecting the operation to the lead to the first instance in which a Japanese military unit has been totally eliminated in ground combat.

[rtrapasso]

Dear editor,

First let me also thank you for all the effort you put in keeping us up to date with what is happening in the Pacific.

I would also like to thank you for your marvelous upgrade to your printing process with your full-color maps! This puts US Today to shame. Your reporting is also far superior to theirs, as i have not seen a report in that rag of any of our fleet actions in at least several weeks, nor have they mentioned the fighting around Pt. Moresby. Shameful!

Keep up the good work!!

Sincerely,


rtrapasso

[Thayne]

July 24, 1942

Thayne's News Network

Editor's Note: In times of war, the news is likely to be filled with all sorts of rumor and exaggeration. The goal of the Thayne News Network is to cut through the fog of war, and provide you, our loyal readers, with as accurate a report of events on the front line as we can.

The Thayne News Network is a special service for the clients in the military industrial complex who need accurate information on the progress of the war. Any disclosure of the contents of these reports is punishable as treason.


BEAUFORTS ISOLATE BUNA

(TN – Townsend) Beaufort torpedo bombers continued their efforts to isolate Buna by attacking Japanese cargo transports in the Solomon Sea. Yesterday, they caught several Japanese transports in the water northeast of Buna and attacked. The efforts saw resulted in eight Japanese cargo ships torpedoed.

The Beauforts did not prevent the cargo ships from delivering their cargo to Buna. They had been spotted sitting in Buna harbor for the last two days. However, allied planes were not able to launch any significant strikes against them. Yesterday, however, the ships were caught leaving Buna. Over 30 Beaufort torpedo bombers took off from Port Moresby field when the news came in, and caught the enemy ships just 70 miles northwest of Buna.

This first attack of the day pumped nine torpedoes into five enemy ships.

After the planes returned to base, they were rearmed and sent out for another strike. Damage suffered from the first attack kept 7 of the original 30 Beauforts on the ground. This attack resulted in 5 torpedo hits against 3 ships, none of which had been hit on the earlier attack.

While this attack was underway, ground crew at Port Moresby worked on the damaged planes and readied other planes that had not flown in the earlier missions. They managed to put together a third flight of six Beaufort bombers for a final mission. Striking right at sunset, they scored 1 torpedo hit against a Japanese cargo ship suffering damage from earlier in the day.

A small group of Boston bombers from Thursday Island also found the task force and reported scoring two bomb hits against a previously undamaged ship.

Military intelligence recorded 8 separate freighters damaged, with 6 of the 8 suffering from multiple hits.


Darwin Raided

(TN – Darwin) For the first time in over two months, the Japanese launched an air strike against the port city of Darwin. The strike caught a large number of Dutch pilots in the air as a part of their training, loaded with live ammunition.

The Dutch pilots could not have been considered ready to take on skilled Japanese Zero pilots. However, the pilots fared no worse than skilled American pilots in their first engagement against a Zero. The Japanese downed 11 Dutch airplanes at a cost of 3 of their own. Some of the fighter pilots managed to press on into the Japanese bombers, downing another 5 Bettys.

The strike did minimal damage to the airbases at Darwin.

However, the Dutch squadrons have no trained pilots that they can draw upon in order to fill the ranks of those pilots who get shot down. Recruiters were preparing to make the rounds of Dutch refugee camps to look for volunteers to enter into the training program.

Each day, boats continue to arrive in northern Australia, carrying refugees from the Dutch East Indies. In addition, allied submarines are continuing to sail along the coast of the islands, picking up small pockets of stranded soldiers and bringing them back to northern Australia.


Japan Renews Pressure on Andaman Island

(TN – Dacca) Japanese bombers returned to Andaman Island at the mouth south of Rangoon, India yesterday in force. Having been given three days of rest to work on the airplanes, the 47th Fighter Squadron was able to get thirteen Aircobras off the ground to intercept the attack. The fighters were able to shoot down five enemy airplanes without a loss.

However, the large mass of enemy bombers – nearly 50 Sally bombers participated in the attack -- inflicted significant damage on the airbase, destroying machine shops and peppering the landing strip with craters. One enemy bomb penetrated an ammunition storage facility and set off a huge secondary explosion that killed or wounded over 20 soldiers, and knocking out a nearby anti-aircraft gun.

So far, the Japanese have now shown any interest in the ships in the harbor. The cargo ship Jalatarang was able to unload all of its cargo without incident and is now returning to Ceylon for more, while Derrymore is in port unloading its cargo.

At Columbo, the attack transport Alchiba is loading up 258 Squadron’s Hurricane fighters and preparing to ship those over to the island. If successful, it should be able to provide Andaman Island with another level of defense against the Rangoon bombers.

The success of the naval transport operation has allowed General Alexander, commander of allied forces in Southeast Asia, to shift cargo flights from Andaman Island back to the task of delivering supplies to China. This is reported to have resulted in a significant improvement in relations between the British command in India and China’s leader Chang Kai Shek.

Alexander has also ordered the 16th Indian Brigade and the 4th Indian Air Base Force onto troop transports for shipment to Andaman Island. These transports are hauling the heavier guns and engineering vehicles that could not be hauled to the island on transport.

[rtrapasso]

Dear Thayne News:
It seems the post office has not delivered your paper for over a week now. Is this a delivery problem? Or are more sinister forces at work?

Sincerely,

A Concerned Reader

[Thayne]

Mr. R. T. Rapasso.

We appreciate your concern. One of our distributors has become the victim of an unfortunate illness, which has prevented us from distributing the current issue of our reports in certain areas.

We regret the interruption in survice. However, we hope that you appreciate that our newsletter cannot simply be outsourced to the next available distributor, and that we must be highly selective in who we trust this information to.

Our distributor has informed us that he is recovering, and will soon be able to once again make his rounds in your area. We assure you that we will do our best to provide you with any back issues you may have missed.

Again, our sincerest regrets.


Thayne
Editor in Chief
Thayne News Campaign Reports

****************************

Author's note: Honestly, I've caught a pretty bad flu when I was home for my father's funeral, and had a most severe relapse this last weekend. When I talk, I still sound like I am speaking out of the far end of a garden hose. During infrequent bouts of semi-consciousness, I was able to exchange turns with SeaWolF K on our Historical Limits PBEM, but not much more.

This has just been a bad three months. My computer died. My father died. My generally inviolable immune system took a vacation.

Things should improve.

*cough* *sniffle* *wheeze*

I hope.

Thayne

[Thayne]

July 25, 1942

Thayne's News Network

Editor's Note: In times of war, the news is likely to be filled with all sorts of rumor and exaggeration. The goal of the Thayne News Network is to cut through the fog of war, and provide you, our loyal readers, with as accurate a report of events on the front line as we can.

The Thayne News Network is a special service for the clients in the military industrial complex who need accurate information on the progress of the war. Any disclosure of the contents of these reports is punishable as treason.


AIRBASE AT APAMAMA

(TN – Hawaii) The men and material of the 114th USAAF Base Force arrived at Apamama yesterday, after a long and harsh voyage. The base force is a crucial step in Admiral Kimmel’s plan to gain control of the skies over the islands of Tarawa and Makin, both of which are still in Japanese control.

Admiral Kimmel hopes that bombers stationed at Apamama will be able to cut off the flow of supplies to its neighbors to the north in the Gilbert chain, thus making it possible for future allied invasions to retake the islands. Apamama is a large enough island to be able to support a fairly substantial air force.

Apamama is currently the home of the VMF-211 Fighter Squadron, which is currently protecting the transport ships as the reinforcements unload. Another task force, that had arrived two days earlier, is unloading additional elements of the 40th USA Infantry Division, which has been charged with defending the island.


Allied Ships Approach Kurile Islands

(TN – Dutch Harbor) Two allied task forces are once again preparing to sail into the Japanese waters of the Kurile Islands.

The movement is the next in a series of actions ordered by Admiral Theobald, commander of allied forces in the North Pacific. He originally sent a lone patrol boat just to see if the Japanese-controlled islands could be penetrated. The mission proved successful, prompting a three-boat raid that caught and shelled an enemy tanker. However, the three gunboats were not able to do much damage to the tanker.

In the middle of these other operations, Admiral Kimmel sent two of his aircraft carriers, Enterprise and Yorktown to the Kurile Islands for three days of raids.

Emboldened by the success of these missions, Theobold ordered a squadron of nine destroyers to penetrate the Japanese defenses. One of their targets is to try to find the Japanese shipping that is sending supplies to the islands, and sink as much of that shipping as possible. At the very least, this would force Japan to draw shipping out from other areas.


South Pacific Air Corps Rests

(TN – Townsend) Allied air units around New Guinea were rewarded with a well earned day of rest yesterday. Reconnaissance airplanes searching the waters north of Buna, on the north coast of New Guinea, reported finding no ships in those waters, leaving the pilots no ships to attack.

Over the past several days, air squadrons at Thursday Island, Port Moresby, Milne Bay, and at Cooktown, Australia, have been working to cut the flow of supplies to the Japanese held port of Buna on the north side of New Guinea. The town is the target for the next Allied move against Japan, and allied commanders are trying to make sure that the Japanese defenders are as ill equipped as possible when they have to try to stop the assault.

Some bomber squadrons flew to keep pressure on Buna, as well as on the combat units occupying the trail that connects Buna with Port Moresby. B-17s belonging to the 5th Bomber Group, flying out of Cooktown, Australia, struck the Buna airport, inflicting moderate damage. One of the most severe effects of the raid is to force the Japanese to divert resources from fortifying their positions in the city to repairing the airstrip.

Another raid, carried out by A-20s of the 89th Bomber Squadron flying out of Thursday Island, focused on the port district to hinder future shipments and, hopefully, hit stockpiles of supplies that had not yet been moved away from the piers.