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April 8, 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.


AIRMEN DUAL ACROSS PACIFIC

(TN - Denver) Yesterday was a day of air combat with major air raids all along the western Pacific ocean, making yesterday one of the most violent days in the air this year.


Air Raid Reef Island

Reef Island, north of Esprito Santo, holds an occupation force of engineers struggling to carve an airstrip into the island, and a squadron of PBYs attached to the seaplane tender Hulbert. Each morning, before dawn, the planes rev up their engines and take off to patrol the waters east of the Solomons.

Dawn arrived to the sounds of airplanes overhead, but they were not the large and noisy PBYs. Instead, the island was under attack by a dozen Kate bombers, without escort. Because of its position near the front lines, Lieutenant Commander Horner ordered that the boilers remain lit and the ship be ready to move at a moment's notice. When the planes showed up, Horner ordered the ship to full speed ahead and headed for the open waters.

Once away from the island, Horner ordered a series of turns and maneuvers that presented the enemy with a difficult target to hit. At the same time, gunnery teams manning 50 caliber machine guns on each corner of the ship fired to disrupt the aim of the attackers. Spray blown up by near misses drenched the deck of the ship, but none of the bombs hit Hulbert.

South Pacific Command immediately went to work assessing the situation. Horner ordered his planes to search the waters in the direction of the retreating bombers. One of the reconnaissance planes reported three heavy cruisers escorting a half dozen transport ships 300 miles north of the island. The most dangerous option was that this is a landing force attempting to take either Reef Island or Ndimi, or heading off to the east to Nanomea Atoll.

Task Force 1170 had recently arrived at Ndimi and dropped off the America1 Division. Combined with the 31st Naval Base Force and the 811th Engineer Aviation Battalion, Ndimi has nearly 25,000 troops busily working to turn the island into a forward base against the Japanese advance. Task Force 1070 still sits off shore, with four destroyers escorting a dozen transport vehicles.

Reef Island, in contrast, has no standing infantry and only an Australian Naval Base Force struggling to build a harbor and an airbase on the island. An infantry brigade destined for the island is presently being loaded on to transports at Aukland, but it has no chance of reaching the island in time to aid in its defense, if it is subject to attack.

Neither Ndimi nor Reef Island presently has an airbase, leaving the allies with no ability to seriously threaten the Japanese force. The nearest task force of any size is at Noumea, over 700 miles to the south. Nimitz has ordered the task force to sortie in order to challenge the Japanese task force if the opportunity arrives. Nimitz also ordered his two carriers, presently undergoing maintenance at Aukland, New Zealand, to be prepared to cut their rest short and sail north.


Daily Raid Against Port Moresby

Japan launched another air attack against Port Moresby, sending in nearly 20 Zero fighters escorting over a dozen bombers. This time, the Allies met them with a squadron of Kittyhawk fighters stationed to protect the city. The defense proved to be of little use, however. The Japanese Zeros shot four of the Kittyhawks out of the sky and kept the rest away from the bombers. The Bettys put a couple of craters in the runway, which ground crews expected to have patched by morning.

Because of the success that Task Force 1083 recently had mining the harbor, General Thompson ordered Task Force 1026 diverted to Port Moresby immediately. TF1026 is loaded with food and ammunition that they were supposed to unload at Caines, Australia. The 20,000 tons of supplies should arrive at Port Moresby in about four days.

Further north, Task Force 1107 was approaching Thursday Island as the sun was setting. TF1107 would have all night to start to disembark its cargo of engineers and supplies, adding more power to the Allies' forward line.


Kai Island Attacked Again

The third significant air battle took place over Kai Island. A squadron of Brewster fighters took on a dozen Japanese Zeros escorting an equal number of Betty bombers. The Zeros had no difficulty against the Brewsters, shooting down three of the airplanes in twenty minutes of combat. The bombers scattered their payload around the island, but inflicted no significant harm on the defenses.

One hundred miles to the south at Aru Island, seaplanes started landing elements of the 107th Royal Australian Navy Base Force. The seaplanes landed on sore and taxied as close to the beach as the could get. Then passengers formed a chain to get their cargo from the plane to the shore. The crews were put to work immediately creating a landing strip on the island that will be used in the future to bring in supplies using cargo planes. Over 300 soldiers were landed on the island in the first day of the airlift.


Japan Thins Darwin CAP

Kai Island was supposed to absorb attacks that would otherwise have hit Darwin. Yesterday, the Japanese did not play by these rules, as they sent airplanes against both targets. The Darwin raid was no smaller than earlier attacks. Two dozen zeros escorted 10 bombers to the city. A combined combat air defense of British, Dutch, and American airplanes took to the skies. The Japanese cut the defensive combat air patrol to ribbon, allowing the Japanese bombers to reach their targets unmolested. Moderate damage was scored to the Darwin airfields, but military sources are reporting the loss of 13 airplanes in the air-to-air fighting.

The Japanese Zero proved itself the king of the skies in these three separate engagements. Combined, they shot down 20 allied airplanes and suffered no losses. Nor did they lose any of the bombers they were sent along to escort.


Allies Flatten Rangoon Airbase

Just as it seemed the Japanese were going to make a clean sweep against the Allied air forces, a raid took off that would even the score.

Just after noon, B-17 Flying Fortresses and LB-30 Liberator heavy bombers started to come alive on the Dacca airstrips. Over 70 heavy bombers took to the air and headed south, organizing themselves and fighting for altitude over the Bay of Bengal. Then, they turned east, toward Rangoon, Burma.

Over their target city they met two dozen fighters over their target. Military Intelligence, after debriefing the crews, assigned four confirmed kills to various gunners -- the only kills scored against Japanese fighters in air-to-air combat during the day. In spite of suffering significant damage, none of the bombers left formation. They dropped over 1000 bombs of various sizes on the target, then headed for home. Bomb assessments counted two dozen enemy airplanes destroyed on the ground, more than making up for the losses to the Japanese Zero suffered over Australia.


Zeros Absent in Rangoon Fighting

Military Intelligence has noted that in two raids over Rangoon in recent days, no Japanese Zeros appeared. Strategic analysts are starting to wonder if Japan might have reached the edge of its intended limit in this theater of operations, and is moving its airplanes elsewhere for another push. The presence of additional Betty bombers and Zero fighters in the region around Darwin suggests to some that the next Japanese push will be against these targets.

April 9, 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.


SURPRISE AT REEF ISLAND

(TN - Noumea) Military Intelligence reports that 60 Japanese carrier planes apparently attempted to strike Reef Island yesterday, but failed to find their target.

The first hint of danger came when a reconnaissance plane flying out of Reef Island reported sighting the planes heading north away from Reef Island. Expecting the worst, Lieutenant Steve Dunsmore ordered his radio operator to contact his support ship Hulbert expecting to hear that the ship had been sunk and the ground units decimated in the Japanese attack. It took several minutes for the crew of the PBY to understand that the crew of the Hulbert had no idea what he was talking about, and that they had not seen any Japanese airplanes all day.

Dunsmore turned his PBY north to follow the enemy airplanes, while the crew of Hulbert attempted to contact the nearby island of Ndimi to see if they had been the victims of a raid. Ndimi, too, reported that all was clear where they were -- though the small Japanese carrier that had attacked Hulbert the previous day was now 150 miles east of the island.

Meanwhile, Dunsmore was following his gathering of carrier planes northwest. Three hundred miles from Reef Island, Dunsmore spotted a second Japanese carrier task force. He saw no carriers in the fleet, but reported seeing a half dozen large cruisers with a destroyer escort. Dunsmore immediately turned for home before the enemy combat air patrol could find him.

An hour before Dunsmore first radioed Hulbert, a large squawl passed north of Reef Island. Military analysts expect that the Japanese planes ran into this barrier and turned back.

According to sources at South Pacific Command, the Japanese would have found more than Hulbert and a flotilla of seaplanes at Reef Island. The transport fleet that had just delivered America1 USA Division to Ndimi was passing through the waters, stopping by to deliver needed fuel to the seaplane tender. The Japanese would have found over a dozen Allied ships at Ndimi, including troop transports, destroyers, minesweepers, and minelayers.

Admiral Nimitz, commander of the South Pacific Theater of Operations, ordered the task force to withdraw to Esprito Santo, where they would rendezvous with a surface combat fleet that had recently left Noumea. Nimitz gave the same order to two ships at Ndimi, including a transport that had recently arrived at the island with much needed supplies. During the crisis, Nimitz ordered that air units deliver supplies to Ndimi.

Sources in South Pacific Command say that it is unlikely that Nimitz will order the surface fleet to engage the Japanese carrier force. News of the devastating effects of Japanese air power on fleets at Pearl Harbor, Java Sea, and Bay of Bengal suggest that a naval surface fleet is not the appropriate tool to use against Japanese naval air power. Nimitz' own carriers are still undergoing refit and repair at Aukland over a thousand miles to the south.


SS Permit Escapes Japan Invasion

(TN - Dacca) SS Permit, a fleet submarine commanded by Lieutenant Commander Hurst, had just arrived at Cebu Island when an alarm sounded. A Japanese invasion fleet had been spotted approaching the harbor. Hurst's orders were to load 30 key officers of the 120th USN Base Force and transport then to Dacca, India, where they will be able to participate in the Indian Ocean war. Hurst's passengers abandoned their personal belongings on the shore and packed only themselves and their most important equipment into the submarine. Hurst took off immediately and submerged in the shallow harbor. Sometimes scraping bottom, he nudged his submarine past the Japanese invasion fleet and out to sea. At last report, the SS Permit was in safe water on its way to Dacca.

SS Permit is one of a small number of fleet submarines participating in the evacuation of stranded military units out of central Philippines. Cebu remained one of two remaining islands with an organized military presence in the Philippines.


Pownall Reinforces Ceylon

(TN - Dacca) Elements of the 44th Indian Brigade arrived at Trimcomalee yesterday to reinforce the garrison there.

Fearing that Japan may strike next at the island of Ceylon, General Pownall ordered reinforcements sent to the island to bolster its defenses. Presently, fewer than 10,000 British soldiers and 70 obsolete airplanes hold the island, which was once considered too far away from the Japanese forces to be seriously threatened. However, the recent loss of Akyab and Andaman Island, and the growing allied power around Calcutta, make Ceylon a likely next target in the Indian Ocean war.

The brigade will add another 4,000 soldiers to the island's defenses. Pownall intends to add 10,000 more soldiers as ships to transport them become available, and has already told the 26th India Division to prepare to make the trip.

April 10, 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.


CARRIERS HOVER NEAR NDIMI

(TN - Noumea) The Japanese carrier force continued to hover in the waters northeast of Ndimi in the Santa Cruz Islands, but kept their distance from the allied occupation forces on the island. Admiral Nimitz, commander of the forces in the South Pacific, had ordered the withdraw of the naval forces to Esprito Santo, where they joined a surface attack fleet from Noumea. The islands now contain only a handful of seaplanes often away on patrol, and construction units involved in building and defenses and airstrips on the two islands.

The smaller Japanese carrier force has drifted off to the west, and was last reported just south of the furthest islands in the Solomon chain, 400 miles away from the larger carrier force. Sources in Nimitz command are reportedly considering sending surface ships against the smaller task force.

However, sources within South Pacific Command say that several key officers are arguing against the attempt. "There are additional dangers in those waters, including the possibility of air strikes from Rabaul and a Japanese battleship group seen earlier in lands to the east.


Japan Continues to Clear Philippines

(TN - Darwin) Over the past few days, Japanese forces have been claiming the small, isolated islands that make up the Philippine chain. The Philippines consists of a major island on the north, and another major island on the south, that have already been taken by Japanese forces, and several smaller islands between these. Of these, Japanese forces have recently taken Guiuan and Ormoc, have landed at Cebu where they are engaged in a battle against the defending 81st Philippine Division, and are moving in to occupy Tacloban. In spite of the inability to get supplies to the troops, they are insisting on defending their port as long as possible. Allied military strategists expect that Japan will complete the operation in just a few weeks.


Task Force 1026 Approaches Port Moresby

(TN - Brisbane) Task Force 1026 is now one days' travel away from delivering its 18,000 tons of supplies to Port Moresby. Sources at Southwest Pacific Command say that they now expect the task force to reach the port, but fear that it may be attacked before getting a chance to unload any of its cargo.

Port Moresby is still going to need soldiers to use the supplies that are being delivered to the island. Presently, the 7th Australian Division is sitting at Townsville waiting for ships to transport port them to the port. Allied planners are carefully watching the smaller of two Japanese carrier forces, presently just south of the eastern end of the Solomon Islands. It was heading slowly west, and may arrive in the area of Port Moresby while operations to resupply the isolated city are under way.


Chinese Forces Again Pressure Lashio, Myitkyina

(TN - Dacca) Two more Chinese divisions are moving along the trails between western China and northern Burma on the Burma towns of Lashio and Myitkyina. The Chinese 200th Division is presently moving through the hills northeast of the Myitkyina, and should be able to move into the city itself within a couple of weeks. Airplanes from Ledo have been making daily attacks on the airfields at Myitkyina and scouting the town, and show only a token defense. The Chinese 93rd Division is nearing the town of Lashio, which is also lightly guarded.

The last time the Chinese advanced along these routes, three divisions managed to escape from China into northern India. Those divisions are working their way out of Burma. Two of those divisions are presently just a few miles away from Imphal, where they will next travel to Dacca for rest, replacements, and training. The Chinese divisions will be used in a future mission to retake Myitkyina and open the Burma Road.

April 11, 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.


PM RELIEF TF TORPEDOED

(TN - Noumea) Southwest Pacific General Thompson ran out of luck yesterday with missions to bolster Port Moresby. The most recent mission arrived at Port Moresby shortly after dawn yesterday. Japanese torpedo bombers attacked the fleet less than three hours later. All three of the transports delivering supplies to Port Moresby were hit and severely damaged in the attack. The minesweeper Bittern was also hit and quickly began to settle in the water.

Kittyhawk fighers intercepted the attack mission. Pilots reported shooting down nine of the attackers, but Military Intelligence reduced that number to three.

Crews immediately went to work trying to salvage the four damaged ships. Fires consumed all three ships, and crews dedicated themselves totally to preventing the loss of the supplies and the minesweeper. The situation on Bittern deteriorated rapidly, causing the captain to order all but emergency crews off of the ship. Destroyers in the task force focused on aiding the more important cargo ships.

While the fight against the fires continued, a second wave of fourty torpedo bombers attacked the task force in the bay. Again, the combat air patrol claimed that they shot down nine bombers, and again Military Intelligence counted only three. The destroyer Cushing claimed another attack plane. One of the attack planes hit the light cruiser Perth. According to crewmen, the torpedo lifted the side of the ship six feet off of the water. When it settled back down in the water, emergency crews immediately went to work on damage control. Fire blanketed the side of the ship. However, when damage assessments got a look at the area, they reported almost no structural damage.

Some experts suggest that the torpedo hit supplies knocked from a freighter and laying half sunk in the water near the side of the cruiser. Regardless of the reason, the Perth reported no harm done, once the fires were under control.

The freighters were still burning fiercely at dusk, and two of the freighters were very near to sinking. Crews are working fiercely to save the three ships.

The attack raises serious questions about future plans to deliver the 7th Australian Division to Port Moresby. Some advisors at Southwest Pacific Headquarters in Brisbane are arguing that Port Moresby be given up for lost, and that effort go into further reinforcing Thursday Island.

Admiral Nimitz reportedly contact General Thompson to discuss lending his carriers to the mission, as well as a task force of personnel carriers under his control. A group of transport ships recently delivered the America1 division to Ndimi, then retreated to Esprito Santo to escape a Japanese carrier force. Nimitz' instructions were to return the task force as soon as they were available, but he has the authority to override those instructions in case of an emergency. Staff members who were present during the conversation said that Nimitz was adamant against giving ground to the enemy. The conversation went late into the afternoon. Thayne News was not able to determine the results of that conversation by press time.


Allied Air Forces Pound Burma

(TN - Dacca) Allied air units are enjoying virtually unopposed control over the Burma. In the last 24 hours, allied forces flew five air missions against the Japanese in Burma.

A raid against the airfield at Myitkyina inflicted significant damage to the runway and buildings. Fighter and bomber squadrons flying out of Ledo hit Myitkyina on a daily basis, focusing mainly on the airfield. Their objective is to make the airstrip unusable to the Japanese, so that they can maintain control over the air.

Bombers at Chadpur and Dacca launched separate raids against the airfield at Akyab. Here, too, the intention of the attacks is to deny the Japanese use of airfields that could otherwise shut off the shipping of supplies to Diamond Harbor. In a separate mission, fighter bombers from Chadpur attacked ground units at Akyab. Those attacks are mainly focused on aiding the soldiers who are retreating from Akyab reach Dacca without harassment, inflicting significant casualties.

Heavy bombers attacked factories and warehouses in Mandalay where the Japanese collect raw materials to ship back to the home islands. The Mandalay raid is the fourth raid conducted against Burma cities in the past week, which included earlier raids against Pagan, and Taung Gyi.


Air Transports Supply Chinese Soldiers

(TN - Dacca) At dawn, thirty cargo planes sit silently on the airfields at Jorhat, India. Crews had been working throughout the night, ground crews loaded tons of cargo onto the planes and secured them for the flight ahead. At dawn, the flight crews climb into the planes. The flight to China is a string of ever growing obstacles. Pilots must quickly climb above 10,000 feet to clear the mountains near the airfields. The next two lines of mountains are 14,000 to 16,000 feet high. At these altitudes, the planes risk icing. If anything goes wrong, there are no safe fields to set down on. Pilots who disappear between Jorhat and Yunan are never seen again.

April 12, 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.


PORT MORESBY SPARED

(TN - Noumea) The cargo ship Elout sits so low in the water that, as the minesweeper Robin moves by, its waves lap up onto the deck. Robin is playing the part of the sacrificial pawn in this contest. If the Japanese bombers come back, Robin is supposed to take the torpedo that would otherwise sink Elout with all of its supplies. That is if Robin does not end up swamping the cargo ship itself.

The fires are nearly out. Deep inside the hold, there are still some hot spots sending smoke up through the hold and into the air over Port Moresby, but the fires are no longer a threat. The concern now is with getting the flooding under control. Emergency crews are working with a very slim margin of error. Four compartments in the ship are completely flooded, and the ship lists to the degree that even moderate waves flow into the hold.

The cargo in the ship has shifted toward the port as well. To try to level the boat without counterflooding, which the ship could not well stand, crews are focusing on removing goods on the list side of the ship. A bucket brigade conveys bags of potatoes up, out of the hold, across the deck, and onto waiting ships. Fifty pounds per bag, fourty bags per ton, the weight on the listing side of the ship slowly lessens.

The fires on the transports Henry S. Grove and Liberty are also nearly out. Neither are as close to sinking as Elout, but one more hit could easily put each ship under the waves. Each also has a protective ring of destroyers and minesweepers waiting for the next Japanese air attack. Each has a crew struggling to remove the surviving cargo off of the water and onto some place safe.

Divers enter the water on the sides of the ships and investigate the damage. They form a plan to weld blisters of metal across the holes, and them pump the water out of the holds. They can hope that they can save some of the cargo. The people who packed the ships knew what they were doing; supplies that can stand a few days under water were near the bottom. Canned food, simple tools, canvas tents and rope will all simply need to be dried out to be useful again. But it will take a lot of work. It will take days before these ships can withstand the waves of the high seas again.

Since dawn, the fighters of No. 77 RAAF Squadron would send an airplane or two flying low over the port, just to let the sailors know that there was somebody watching out above them. A few hours later, rather than just one or two Kittyhawk fighters, the sailors see a squadron of sixteen flying in tight formation.

Crews were able to work all day without being disturbed. It is not until lunch time when soldiers begin to wonder openly why the Japanese have not returned to finish off the ships. Others condemn them into silence, as if the question itself might bring the enemy.

The enemy does arrive. Late in the afternoon, the air raid sirens blow. Ship crews do not have far to go; they have been at battle stations for most of the day, expecting another Japanese attempt to finish off the transports. They ate their breakfasts and their lunches cold.

Kittyhawks buzz to life in the direction of the airstrip. They take to the air only a few short minutes later and climb to meet their brothers already in the sky. However, the enemy comes in high. The Kittyhawks struggle to gain altitude and meet the attacker, but it proves to be a short fight. Fewer than a dozen enemy bombers can be seen, and they drop their bombs far short of the harbor. The attackers turn and leave, and all clear sounds across the water. These were on a regular bombing mission. They were not after the ships.

Plans to Reinforce Port Moresby Continue

(TN - Brisbane) Allied military commanders continue to plan to put the 7th Australian Division on the shore at Port Moresby to hold the port. Admiral Nimitz will be lending surface combat ships and troop transports presently under his command to help in the mission. Nimitz was also eager send his carrier fleet into the area to cover the landing and attack the Japanese ships known to be in the area. However, Allied Military Command overrode the Admiral stating that they wanted the carriers to finish their refit so that they would be ready for future missions.

Nimitz has gained some creditability in allied command for his decision not to be so rash to lend his carriers to Kimmel in the Central Pacific. There are still no more than rumors of a planned invasion of Wake, and having the carriers at Pearl would have left Nimitz carriers without a mission, waiting for an attack that never came.

Sources within South Pacific Command report that Nimitz is considering offensive action once his carriers are back in the war. Sources suggest that Nimitz is confident that he has enough soldiers to contain a Japanese advance and to even start to push the enemy back. Nimitz is anxious to begin some action while the Japanese are still cleaning up minor ports in the Philippines and the Dutch East Indies, and are not yet able to devote the full weight of their forces to defending the front line.


The Day's Loss: Sinkep Island

(TN - Darwin) Still consistent with its pattern of occupying one Allied port per day, the Japanese took control of Sinkep Island, east of Singapore, yesterday. Sinkep Island was one of the few remaining Dutch ports that still had a garrison occupying it. The Japanese had subjected the defenders to intense air bombardment since the fall of Singapore. Its defenders were weary of the bombardment, short of supplies, and short of sleep. They surrendered, en masse, to the Japanese, the instant the enemy came ashore. Another 800 Allied soldiers became Japanese prisoners, and the Japanese obtained control of yet another vital piece of real estate.

Military strategists are warning that the day is drawing nearer when Japan will have consumed all of the remaining isolated outposts in the Philippines and Dutch East Indies, and at that time they will probably look to expanding their territory. Allied military strategists consider Ceylon, northern India, New Guinea, and the Solomons as likely targets for the next major Japanese push.

April 13, 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.


JAPAN DRIVES SOUTH

(TN – Noumea) Japan’s next big drive appears to be heading south, into the islands off of the east coast of Australia. South Pacific and Southwest Pacific Command headquarters have been bombarded with reports of a number of events on a wide front from Port Moresby to Ndimi.

In the last 24 hours, allied forces have taken damage to three light cruisers in the area, while they have also lost a submarine and two Hudson bombers. In exchange, they cost the Japanese a fully loaded transport ship and a Betty bomber, and damaged another transport ship. Southwest Pacific Command is also about to lose the port of Gili Gili on the extreme eastern end of New Guinea. Japan began landing troops there during the night.

The first exchange in this battle occurred in Dampier Straight off of the coast of Sag Sag on the island of New Britain. New Britain is the island that holds the major Japanese occupied base of Rabaul, the center of their power in the region.


SS Tarpon vs. Japanese Supply Ship

While SS Tarpon was recharging its batteries when its crew spotted a Japanese freighter. The Tarpon moved in on an intercept course and raked the ship with its guns. Tarpon also maneuvered to put a torpedo in the side of the ship. Expecting that the Japanese freighter might have called for help, and knowing that there were several Japanese ports within a dozen miles, Tarpon quickly fled south.

A few hours later, Tarpon heard the screw sounds of some very large ships and the destroyers that were escorting them. These were not the sounds of an ASW task force sent to hunt for a predatory submarine, but a a surface combat force sailing through the waters for other purposes. Tarpon attempted to move into position to get a shot at what must have been a battleship or a carrier. However, the enemy screening force found the submarine first. After sending a message to inform them of the enemy task force, Tarpon was never heard from again.

Later the next day, allied reconnaissance aircraft would report seeing a Japanese freighter sinking in waters south of Dampier Straight. The fact that the ship was heading south at the time it was hit leads allied military intelligence that it was fully loaded with cargo at the time of the attack. In addition to losing the ship, the Japanese have also lost several thousand tons of supplies.


Japan Invades Milne Bay

Shortly before dawn, Japanese transport ships entered Milne Bay and started to send soldiers to the shore near Gili Gili. The town has a meager garrison, which met the Japanese boats with machine gun and rifle fire from the shore, perhaps wounding or killing two dozen Japanese soldiers. As the Japanese force landed, a huge ball of fire from one of the freighters in the harbor lit up the side of a Japanese transport. Allied military intelligence was unable to get confirmation of the extent of the damage to the ship. The Japanese landed and quickly forced the allied soldiers away from the shoreline, so that additional soldiers could come ashore. Japan also started setting up two or three artillery batteries and established a defensive perimeter. Gili Gili itself is a couple of miles inland from the shore.


Air Raid Port Moresby

Japanese air units could not leave the ships off of Port Moresby. With the fires under control, destroyers towed the wounded freighters into Fairfax Harbor to protect them from the ocean waves and to give the crews calm water in which to work. Crews continued to haul freight from the ships to the docks on Paga Point at a rate of about 30 tons per hour from each ship.

Mid morning, the air sirens sounded and two dozen Kittyhawk fighters rose to challenge a half doze Betty bombers. Half of the bombers were driven off, but fighters cut a path for four of them to approach the task force. They came in from the south, from open water, where the combat ships formed a picket line protecting the transports. The Bettys launched four torpedoes at the light cruiser Perth. This time, no bundle of floating debris took the blow for her; she took one of the torpedoes just aft of midship and was badly damaged.


[/i]Hudsons Bomb Buna[/i]

For several days, Hudson bombers have been attacking the Japanese held port of Buna without meeting any challenge. Earlier missions had inflicted significant damage to cargo ships that sometimes visited the port. This time, as the Hudson Bombers cleared the Owen Stanley Range and got a glimpse of the harbor, they saw battleships, cruiser, and a half dozen troop transports and cargo ships unloading in the harbor. Allied military intelligence suspects that the Japanese are landing a large attack force to climb through the Owen Stanley Range and hit Port Moresby, only a few short miles away. Six Zero fighters immediately challenged the bombers, shooting down two. The last remaining airplane dropped its bombs near the closest transport and scooted along the shore toward the north, then back home.


Bettys Hit Ndimi

Japanese Betty bombers proved their long reach by taking off from the Rabaul, in the Bismarck Archipelago, and Maloelap, in the Marshall Islands, to attack an allied convoy that returned to Ndimi Island. Construction crews on the island are working to build an airstrip. Until it is finished, the island is vulnerable to Japanese air attacks. However, building the airfield requires supplies. The cargo ship Belawan arrived at the island four days ago to help in the construction of an airbase, but was chased away before unloading when Japanese aircraft carriers were discovered in the area. After fleeing to Esprito Santo to the south, the ship returned with an escort that included the light cruisers Adelaide and Phoenix. Betty bombers were able to deliver two bombs to Adelaide and one to Phoenix. Furthermore, reconnaissance aircraft report that the Japanese carriers are still hovering in the waters northwest of the Island and are still capable of launching an air strike.

For the second time, Admiral Nimitz ordered the supply convoy to withdraw with its construction supplies still on board.


Numbers No Help in Darwin Defense

(TN – Darwin) When Japanese fighters and bombers returned to Darwin, the fact that the allies outnumbered the Japanese by two to one made little difference in the fight. This time, instead of flying in and out without a loss, the Japanese attack on Darwin resulted in the destruction of five Japanese Zero fighters. However, the Japanese Zero pilots, after flying hundreds of miles to reach Darwin, shot down 18 allied pilots before turning and flying home. Allied defenders, who entered the air with over 50 airplanes to meet the two dozen Japanese zeros, returned to the ground with a little over 30 planes. The bombers then proceeded to their target without any difficulty.

Japanese pilots also raided Kai Island again, shooting down two P339D pilots over the island.

Many of the allied pilots are able to bail out of their damaged airplanes and float down to the ground, where they were patched up and made ready to continue to fight. Replacement airplanes arrive daily from the caravan coming up the road from Australia. But it will take a while to get the new planes in fighting shape. In the mean time, each new Japanese sweep of the island leaves it a little more vulnerable.


Pownall Nixes Bombing of Civilians

(TN – Dacca) With heavy bombers stationed at Dacca hitting strategic targets in Burma, some advisors are suggesting widespread terror bombing in areas likely to produce widespread civilian casualties. General Pownall responded by saying that his air force will not engage in “terror bombings” of civilian targets. In a statement to all commanders of bomber units, Pownall said, “I am well aware that a number of our bombing missions will produce civilian casualties. A number of children are going to end up maimed and dead as a result of our actions. The enemy leaves us no choice, and these casualties are the responsibility of our enemy. The difference between us and our enemy, however, is that they care nothing for the lives of innocent people, and we will seek to spare them if possible, and focus our efforts instead on the leaders and organizations that are the ultimate source of this evil.”

Presently, Pownall’s heavy bomber squadrons are taking a break, recovering from their most recent raids while ground crews repair the planes and return them to service.

April 14, 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.


DISASTER AT SANTA CRUZ

(TN – Noumea) Southwest Pacific Command lost the heavy cruiser Louisville and light cruiser Adelaide, and suffered damage to the light cruisers Phoenix and Concord. The task force was leaving Ndimi when Japanese Betty bombers proved that they could reach the island with Betty bombers and Japanese carriers were found in nearby waters. Because of damage inflicted on Phoenix and Adelaide the day before, the task force was moving slowly. However, military intelligence had expected that the Japanese carriers would keep their distance or move west, where other Japanese forces were assembling.

The Japanese surprised Allied forces by closing on Ndimi, appearing at dawn just north of the islands. The task force was within easy reach of Japanese carrier planes. Adelaide took three torpedoes and sank. Lousiville Lousville took two torpedoes and six bombs and also went under. Phoenix added one torpedo hit to the damage it took the day before, and Concord is suffering the effects of two bombs and two torpedoes.

Phoenix and Concord are now attempting to make it to Esprito Santo where emergency crews will try to patch the holes put in each ship. However, sources within South Pacific Headquarters at Nourmea warned that the Allied base at Luganville on Esprito Santo is not nearly capable of holding back a Carrier attack force. The base is home of a squadron of Tomahawk fighters and two squadrons of seaplanes patrolling the waters around the islands. Efate, approximately 100 miles to the south, holds a squadron of SBD dive bombers. Allies are hoping once again that the Japanese do not pursue their advantage further south, but it is a hope that has proved itself futile in the past.

When the Allied fleet left Ndimi, they left behind a small cargo ship unloading construction materials for an airstrip being constructed on the island. The Japanese carrier force found that ship too and hit it with a torpedo. The ship is still afloat and attempting to put its cargo on shore. An airbase on Ndimi will significantly increase allied air power in the region. Allied planners expect that it will take another five weeks to finish the runway. In the mean time, 20,000 soldiers sit on the island waiting to fight off any Japanese attempt to capture the island. Work is also being done on an airfield on nearby Reef Island.

Efforts are also underway to construct an airfield on nearby Reef Island. This effort is much smaller and is intended to serve as a backup to the efforts on Ndimi. However, recent allied plans are to boost the efforts on Reef Island. A brigade from New Zealand is on its way north to help defend the island, while the War Department has announced that its first Construction Battalion (or SeaBees) will be given the assignment of developing Reef Island. Combined, Reef Island and Ndimi are supposed to provide a significant barrier to the Japanese advance, protecting Esprito Santo and Ndimi, as well as the allied supply lines, further south.


Elout Sinks at Port Moresby

(TN – Brisbane) The cargo ship Elout sank at Port Moresby last night, taking about 3,000 tons of supplies to the bottom of the harbor with it. Betty bombers hit Elout two days ago. Crews struggled to put out the fire, but Elout was so badly flooded that even a moderately sized wave would make it over the deck. Last night, a storm at sea delivered waves into the bay that were large enough to rock the boat. Divers went into the water next to the ship and noted that the stress of the waves was weakening the damaged ship. At 2:00 am, port authorities ordered that the ship be abandoned. At a little after 3:30, the ship split in half and sank.

Crews continued their work on the remaining two freighters at Port Moresby. These two ships were also hit on earlier Japanese raids, but not so badly that they are in immediate danger of sinking.

Over 5,000 tons of cargo has already been unloaded from the three ships. However, there are still concerns that there are not enough units at Port Moresby to use the available supplies effectively. Southwest Pacific Command has ordered the Australian 7th Division to Cairnes, and is sending troop transports to the city to deliver these soldiers to Port Moresby. Sources within Southwest Pacific Command suggests that there is still no strong commitment to the mission. “We can still scrub the mission if we think it is too risky,” said one source.


Darwin Trades 7 Fighters for 2 Zeros and a Betty

(TN – Darwin) Combat Air Patrol over Darwin continues to struggle to fight off Japanese Zero raids over the city. Yesterday’s attack resulted in the loss of seven allied pilots while taking down two Japanese Zeros and one Betty bomber. Allied planners are struggling to provide better air defenses over Darwin. However, it takes nearly two months to get airplanes to Darwin from the west coast of the United States. Sources within the department say that there are already additional fighters on the way, including P-40 Tomahawks, the best that the allies have to offer.

Southwest Pacific Command is also struggling with the need for fighter cover over Port Moresby, where crews are working to remove cargo from two damaged transport ships and protect an escort convoy of mine sweepers, destroyers, and one damaged light cruiser.


Gili Gili Falls to the Japanese

(TN – Brisbane) Japan took control of the port of Gili Gili yesterday. Gili Gili is a strategically important base that substantially extends the Japanese control over the Coral Sea. Ships stationed at Gili Gili can reach around the tip of the island to Port Moresby and Thursday Island much more easily. The Japanese capture of Port Moresby adds another level of threat to any attempt to deliver supplies to Port Moresby.

Japanese forces also landed at Russell Island yesterday in a bid to expand its control over the Solomon Islands. Earlier Japanese efforts left the southeastern half of the Solomon Islands in allied control. The recent push is expected to continue until Japan controls all of the Solomon Islands. Beyond the Solomon Islands, the next significant base is at the Santa Cruz Islands, which is presently struggling under the presence of a substantial Japanese carrier fleet.

April 15, 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.


CRUISER SUNK AT SANTA CRUZ

(TN - Noumea) Japanese carrier planes caught two wounded light cruisers trying to flee the scene of yesterday's Battle of Santa Cruz, adding further damage to one light cruiser, damaging a destroyer, and sinking the light cruiser Concord.

The task force was only a few dozen miles away from Luganville, in the New Hebrides islands, when dawn came and the Japanese launched their attack. Tomahawk fighters from Luganville patrolled the skies over the task force. When they attack arrived, they drove their way past the Zero fighters and challenged the Kate and Val attack planes. They destroyed two Zero fighters on the way past, and 6 bombers, but this left more than enough planes to do significant damage to the task force.

Phoenix took several bomb hits in the attack. Though it is not in danger of sinking just yet, its bridge and many of its guns have been destroyed. It is continuing to try to reach Luganville at a speed of only three knots.

The destroyer Kortinear also took a bomb hit that set off ammunition that had been brought to the anti aircraft guns deck of the ship. The ammunition inflicted further damage on the superstructure of the destroyer, knocking many systems out of order and killing much of the topside crew.

South Pacific Command warns that Luganville cannot be considered a safe port. Its small airfield is not capable of supporting very many planes, and it would be easy for the Japanese task force to penetrate its defenses and finish off the wounded ships.

Yet, it would also be a mistake to say that Luganville is defenseless against a Japanese air attack. In addition to a squadron of Tomahawk fighters that have already shown their skill against the Japanese, the 217th USA Coast AA Regiment is also stationed at Luganville, with thirty operational anti-aircraft guns. This is in addition to a dozen AA guns that are a regular part of the base force. Luganville also has a radar station to help warn of impending Japanese attacks.

The entire base has been put on alert for tomorrow's attack.

It is also possible that the Japanese carrier force can continue east, targeting Nanomea Atoll. Presently, there are over 7,000 soldiers stationed at Nanomea, which also boasts nearly 50 pieces of anti aircraft artillery and an equal number of anti aircraft machine guns. Nanomea does not have a compliment of fighters; it has served exclusively as a base for seaplanes and long range scouts watching Japanese activity on islands to the north.

However, South Pacific Command informs Thayne News that the Escort Carrier Long Island is a short distance from Nanomea, and it is carrying a squadron of Wildcats. Admiral Nimitz has ordered Long Island to be ready to station its planes where they may intercept any Japanese carrier based attack in the region.


SS Grayback Damages Troop Transports

(TN - Brisbane) American submarines have been watching a parade of transports entering Truk Island in recent days. Yesterday, the submarine SS Grayback reported hitting one with a torpedo. Grayback was unable to report on the final consequence of its attack. It was immediately set upon by a pack of patrol crafts and left the scene of the attack quickly.


Japan Expands Territorial Control

(TN - Washington) Yesterday, the Japanese Empire added the Philippine port of Taytay, on the northern tip of the country's western most island, to its list of conquests. Reports from Taytay say that the natives organized a guerilla resistance to the attack that claimed over 1,000 Japanese casualties as they moved from the beach to the town. The defense consisted of firing on the Japanese from the security of the jungle, rushing back whenever the Japanese attacked, and then rushing forward. The Philippine citizens also set up traps along the beach and in the town that caught additional Japanese soldiers unaware. The largest number of casualties, according to reports from the region, occurred as a result of the natives setting a large number of explosives in one of the town's key buildings. When the Japanese settled into the building and started organizing their command post, the natives set off the carefully concealed explosives and killed all of the occupants.

The Japanese then ordered the entire citizenry of the town to be rounded up and shot. However, most of the citizens had fled into the jungle long before the Japanese arrived.

Elsewhere, in the Solomon Islands, the Japanese claimed Russell Island as their own yesterday. The Japanese advance is getting dangerously close to the forward section of the Pacific Wall that the allies are attempting to build from Australia to Pearl Harbor. The base at Ndimi Island is only a little more than 500 miles away from the new Japanese conquest.

The airbase at Ndimi is still more than a month away from being completed.

April 16, 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.


MORE LOSSES IN SOUTH PACIFIC

(TN – Brisbane) Fighting in the South Pacific cost the allies another cruiser yesterday. A raid on Port Moresby delivered three torpedoes into the Perth, sinking the light cruiser. Perth was damaged in earlier attacks, but remained on station at Port Moresby to protect a pair of cargo ships struggling to unload their supplies in the besieged city. One of the cargo ships has already been sunk, and both of the remaining cargo ships have been severely damaged.

On the eastern side of the Coral Sea, the Japanese carrier fleet launched another air attack against the task force it chased from Ndimi to Luganville. A squadron of P-40 Tomahawks met the Japanese attack force and destroyed two Zeros and three of the bombers. They were not able to inflict any additional damage on the ships. However, Phoenix is suffering from significant damage and will not likely be able to survive another raid.

Admiral Nimitz has ordered the task force back to Efate with instructions to continue the repairs there.

The loss of Perth brings the total number of allied cruisers so far up to 10. This includes the two heavy cruisers. Allies lost Houston when a Japanese bomb penetrated its deck and blew up in a powder magazine at Taytay, in the Philippines. Louisville was sunk just a couple days ago in the current Battle of Santa Cruz. This corresponds to three Japanese cruisers sunk, those having been hit in the opening days of the war just south of Wake Island. Since then, Japan has suffered no significant damage to any combat ship larger than a destroyer.

Admiral Nimitz has ordered all task forces in the region to give the Japanese carrier fleet a wide berth. Several task forces, including a task force carrying an artillery unit to Luganville and an escort carrier bringing fighter planes to fight in the South Pacific, were ordered to Suva, and are prepared to sail even further south if the Japanese carrier fleet should try to engage them.

Nimitz has also ordered Task Force 1219 to stop at Noumea until the danger passed. TF1219 was due to deliver a New Zealand regiment to the island of Ndimi.

In northern Australia, operations continue in preparation for a mission that will seek to deliver the 7th Australian Division to Port Moresby. Troop transports are converging on Cairns to pick up the Australian unit and carry it across the sea to Port Moresby. The Japanese continue to sit with a battleship fleet in the waters north of New Guinea, and may move out to threaten the landing force. In addition, the Japanese carrier planes at Rabaul have proved to be a significant threat.

April 17, 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.


NDIMI SUPPLY SHIP SUNK

(TN – Noumea) The supply ship Belwin, which had been unloading supplies at Ndimi under the nose of a Japanese carrier fleet, was finally spotted and sunk yesterday.

Belwin reached Ndimi the day that a Japanese carrier force first started to threaten Allied shipping around Santa Cruz. At first, Admiral Nimitz called for all allied shipping in the region to withdraw to Luganville to the south. When it appeared that the Japanese carriers were withdrawing, a cruiser task force escorted Belwin back to Ndimi to continue to unload its supplies.

Allies were then startled to discover that Betty bombers from Rabaul and Maleolap could still reach Ndimi. They damaged two light cruisers, just as the Japanese carrier force returned to the waters north of Ndimi. At that time, the carriers retreated south, trying once again to return to Luganville. However, the transport ship Belwin elected to stay behind at Ndimi. Senior officials at South Pacific Command report that the allies were hoping that the retreating cruisers would lead the Japanese carrier planes away from the transport ship, allowing it to continue to unload its cargo on the island.

The effort appeared to work for a while. Japanese carrier planes attacked the cruiser task force south of Ndimi, sinking a heavy and a light cruiser. They caught the remains of the cruiser force north of Luganville and sank another light cruiser, while adding to the damage to the other. For a third day, the carrier fleet, though it was parked in waters only 60 miles away from Belwin, attacked the cruiser force again at Luganville.

However, on the fourth day, the Japanese carriers targeted Belwin instead. The transport ship took the full force of the Japanese air strike. Hit at least eight times, it quickly sank to the bottom of the sea just off of the coast of Ndimi.

However, in the three days of extra time Belwin had at Ndimi, it was able to unload over a thousand tons of supplies that will be put to work constructing the Ndimi airfield. As soon as the airfield is finished, Ndimi will serve as a new forward base for the Allied forces in the South Pacific.


Philippine Army in Exile Builds in India

(TN – Bacca) The defense of India is getting aid from a number of sources. First, three Chinese divisions are making their way to Dacca after marching across the thick jungles of northern Burma earlier in the year. At Dacca, the three divisions will undergo retraining, refit, and replenishment while they prepare to march back into Burma. Their long range objective is to aid in the capture of the northern Burma city of Myitkyina and, with its liberation, re-open the Burma Road for delivering supplies to China.

They will be joined by refugee units that have been at Dacca for at least a month, that had their own struggles getting out of Burma. At one time, the Mandalay defensive group was caught in trackless jungle northwest of Lashio in northern Burma. Without any supplies, it spent weeks marching through the Burma jungle escaping pursuit by the 33rd Japanese Division. Eventually, it emerged from the jungle in the area near Imphal, India; tired, worn, and suffering from disease. The remnants of the units moved on to Dacca, where they have been receiving regular shipments of supplies and additional equipment building their strength back for the fight ahead.

The Philippine government in exile in India hopes to add two more divisions to the force in India, the 61st and 81st Philippine Army Divisions. The divisions will be built around units rescued from the Philippine Islands.

The Philippine Army has already made an invaluable contribution to the defense of India. They contributed the 19th Bomber Group and the 93rd Bomber Squadron, which have been responsible for pummeling Japanese forces in Burma, including railway marshaling yards, oil and resource centers, and airfields. The 21st Fighter Squadron fighting in northern Burma is another Philippine refugee, as are several flying boat squadrons presently keeping track of Japanese activities on land and sea.

The Philippine Army is expected to be particularly useful in plans to attack across northern Burma into China, then across China to retake the port of Hong Kong. General Pownall, commander of the Southeast Asia theater of operations, has announced long ago that the recapture of Hong Kong is his actual long-term objective.

April 18, 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.


RESCUE AT POMALA

(TN – Darwin) A daring daylight rescue behind enemy lines brought snatched 50 Dutch soldiers from the Japanese and brought them safely to Australia.

For the past week, Dutch pilots flying five Do-25K-2 patrol seaplanes have been making daily trips far behind enemy lines. Their flight takes them over Timor, across the Java Sea, and past the Japanese controlled airbase at Kendari. Kendari is known as a major Japanese airbase. Some days, over 100 bombers fly out of the base to hit allied targets nearby. A hundred miles past Kendari, the airplanes land at Pomala. Between ten and twenty soldiers climb onto the airplane for the trip back to Australia. They fly past Kendari again, back across the Java Sea, over Timor, and on to Darwin.

For a week, these missions have flown daily.

Two days ago, a Japanese invasion force landed on the port. There were fewer than 100 allied soldiers left to rescue. The five airplanes landed. They loaded what they could. Half of the remaining soldiers, plus some key military equipment, were loaded onto the airplanes. The pilots returned, adding the soldiers to the Dutch army growing at Darwin.

The remaining fifty soldiers were told to hold out the night. The planes would return the next day.

The problem was, how to rescue fifty remaining soldiers without the Japanese finding out what was going on and overrunning the loading area.

The plan called for the remaining soldiers to silently withdraw from the town. Throughout the night, they marched south. With the darkness covering their movements, they walked out onto a point that extended far into the sea. If the Japanese caught them there, they would have no place to run. At the same time, the point provided a clearly recognizable landmark for the remaining seaplanes.

They settled down. They lit no fire. They were surrounded by marsh, muck, and mosquitoes. They waited silently.

A Japanese supply ship sailed by. The soldiers silently dry-fired at the passing ship.

Dawn came. With the dawn’s light, some of the soldiers removed the leeches they had acquired during the evening’s walk, and could not remove while it was dark. Others just saw the tell tale rings of leeches that had completed its meal and fell off.

There wasn’t a cloud in the sky. They waited.

The sun rose up, high in the trees. The afternoon temperature climbed into the nineties. In the hot afternoon jungle, the humidity was at least as high. The bugs came out to play in the hot weather.

Then came the buzzing, the sound of airplane engines. The soldiers did not notice the airplanes right away. They came straight in out of the ocean, at wave-top level. The soldiers waded out into the surf. The planes pulled up as close as they could. Soldiers left some of their heavier belongings behind to swim out into the planes.

Ten soldiers loaded onto each plane. There was plenty of room to go around, and no use in overloading the first plane to the point that it could not take off. When it headed back out to sea, it soared up above the waves. Then it turned south, toward Australia.

By evening, the fifty soldiers were showered, fed, and ready for a comfortable night’s sleep. After a thorough checkout, most would be ready to return to their unit. The Dutch army at Darwin was growing each and every day. Officially, the roster of Dutch soldiers in Darwin presently stands at 6,070. Spare equipment has been arriving daily from the Alice Springs Express, bringing guns and ammunition, including anti aircraft guns and heavy engineering equipment, to the units. It has also been bringing Dutch refugees, hoping to get a chance to return to Dutch East Indies some day, and fight the invader.

The units regain more strength with each passing day.

By evening, Japan had control of the base. Some allied strategists believe that the Japanese were not even aware that an allied force had existed on the island.


Allies Bite Back Against Japanese Carrier

(TN – Noumea) Reports out of Luganville suggest that the Japanese did not have the success they may have expected in a carrier-based air assault against the base.

Nine P-40 Tomahawk fighters took off to meet the threat. The pilots used tactics that were being developed in the India campaign, staying in or behind the clouds as they climbed for a chance to pounce the bombers. The Zeros had already flown by, and the squadron of nine fighters had a flock of Kate’s soaring past them below.

They dove, and seven of the nine Tomahawk fighters scored kills against the enemy. Seven Kate bombers landed in the ocean. The rest called for help from the Zero fighters and scattered. The Allies continued their dive, and sped off from the scene of the attack before the Zeros could show up. The score, by the time the air combat was over, was seven Japanese planes shot down, without a single loss to the allies. A squadron of sixteen Japanese Zero planes returned home without firing a shot.

The Japanese raid resulted in the destruction of two PBY Catalinas that have been using the base as a loading point for supplies bound for Ndimi. Two planes had returned from the morning mission and were in the harbor when the attack came. Both planes were destroyed.

Gawd I love this AAR ! First rate!

April 19, 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.


LAST SUMATRA BASE CAPTURED

(TN – Darwin) Japanese forces completed the capture of Sumatra yesterday with an amphibious landing against the port of Jambi, southeast of Singapore.

Earlier in the war, Dutch units had congregated at Palembang, 100 miles to the east, and one of the largest oil ports in the Pacific Ocean. The Japanese arrived in force, adding reinforcements daily until they overwhelmed the defenders. When the Dutch army was forced to retreat, they retreated to Jambi, and held the port against the Japanese since that time.

Since then, the Jambi force has attracted significant attention from the Japanese air force. The base has been subjected to hundred-plane raids almost daily from Palembang and Singapore. As long as Jambi was being attacked, the Japanese army was not using these planes on other fronts, such as the Solomon Islands campaign or the India/Burma Theater.

The Jambi defensive group had been expecting the Japanese attack to come down the road from Palembang, and had set up most of their defenses to protect from this. The amphibious landing came as a surprise. Still, the Dutch army had put defenses along the cost, and the assault still ended up costing the Japanese over 300 casualties, according to reports.

With nowhere left to run, and facing odds of at least 3 to 1, with countless Japanese reinforcements available, the Dutch army surrendered at 2:30 pm yesterday afternoon.


Japan Continues Solomons Occupation

(TN – Noumea) Japanese occupation of the Solomon Islands now includes Tassafaranga and Lunga on the island of Guadalcanal. The only significant port in the chain that remains in allied hands is the island of Tulagi, a short distance north of Guadalcanal.

Tulagi is the British center of government for the Solomon Islands – Rabaul being the center of government for the Bismarck Archipelago to the northwest. Tulagi has also been the center of communications on an island chain where the sea and air are the only effective ways of getting from one place to another. The Tanambogo-Gavutu seaplane base has long been the central communications hub. In peace time, private and government seaplane pilots would take off to deliver cargo, messages, and passengers along the Solomon chain. Its loss will complete the Japanese occupation of this region.

If the Japanese were to try to continue their occupation, the next target in line would be the Santa Cruz Islands. Nimitz has occupied the largest of the Santa Cruz islands, and the island closest to the Solomons chain, with a substantial defensive force. Ndimi holds the 31st Naval Base Force, which has constructed a port on the island for quickly unloading essential supplies, the 811th Engineer Aviation Battalion, which is feverishly constructing an airbase on the island, and the America1 Division for defense.

“This is one island the Japanese will not be able to occupy with a 1000-man Special Naval Landing Force,” sources inside of Noumea have said.

Nearby Reef island is also be built up to add power to the defensive line. However, Reef island presently has only 3,000 soldiers belonging to the Royal Australian Navy base force. Allied forces are trying to move the First Naval Construction Battalion to the island to help build up its facilities, and the 5th New Zealand Brigade to add to the island’s defenses. However, those operations are being held up by the presence of a substantial Japanese carrier force in the region.

That carrier force has already sunk a heavy cruiser, two light cruisers, and a cargo ship, while seriously damaging another light cruiser and a destroyer in its sweep of the region, at a loss of slightly more than 20 Japanese bomber and fighter pilots and planes. Another casualty of the Japanese invasion is the disruption of construction materials and supplies to the Santa Cruz Islands, which may delay the completion of the air and naval bases there.


Japanese Occupy San Jose, Philippines

(TN – Darwin) Japanese forces have moved in to occupy two more areas of the Philippines that they had previously left alone. Japanese forces started to arrive at San Jose two days ago. As at Taytay, several individuals had organized themselves into a guerilla army to meet the Japanese invaders. Rather than stand and fight the Japanese on the beaches, the citizens of San Jose set traps throughout the region that cost the Japanese over 500 soldiers on landing, then faded into the jungle. The Japanese moved a full division onto the island to sweep the jungle for resistance fighters.


Buildup at Aru Island Continues

(TN – Darwin) The air route from Darwin, Australia to Aru Island to the north nearly has the look of a major highway with the planes moving along it. Each morning, a few more soldiers from the 107th Royal Australian Navy Base Force climb into Catalina seaplanes for the trip north. There is no airstrip on Aru Island yet, so the seaplanes land in the ocean and drop their passengers off on the beach. Over 3,000 soldiers have been delivered to Aru Island this way so far. They are greeted as they land with support staff who point them to their sleeping quarters – a row of tents set up near the shore, and give them their work assignments.

Later in the day, a squadron of C-47 Transport planes flies overhead. They open their cargo doors and drop a stick of supply parachutes over the island. Ground crews collect the cargo. Ammunition, picks, shovels, food, medicine, tents, cots, blankets, and the most important cargo of all – letters from home – get distributed to where they are needed most.

Those who do not have other duties work on the landing strip being constructed on the island. There is no heavy equipment, so crews cut down the trees, dig out the roots, and move the boulders, and smooth out the ground, using whatever hand tools can be flown in.

Once the landing strip is finished, supplies can be brought in more efficiently. Then, according to sources in Darwin, work will truly begin for turning Aru Island into Aru Fortress.


Fighter War in North Australia Continues

Kai Island to the North continues to suffer from Japanese attacks. Japanese Zero fighters have nearly destroyed the air defenses over Kai Island. Southwest Pacific Command has announced that it will be bringing the badly mauled Dutch fighter squadron presently stationed at Kai Island back to Darwin, and move the No, 76 Royal Australian Air Force Squadron up to the island. In addition to having more highly skilled pilots, the Australian squadron flies superior Kittyhawk fighters. The Dutch pilots, however, will not get a lot of rest. Japanese Zeros have proved that they are as willing and able to fly fighter missions to Darwin as to Kai Island.

The Australian Air Force is waiting reinforcements from two additional American fighter groups being shipped to the island. According to sources in Southwest Pacific Command, two cargo ships should be arriving at Sydney Harbor in about a week. One of them holds over seventy P-39 Aircobra fighters, while the other holds an equal number of P-40 Warhawk fighters. Though military strategists say that these planes are still inferior to the Japanese Zero fighters in may key respects, sheer numbers and new tactics allow them to put up an effective defense. Recent activities on the India/Burma front and at Luganville have demonstrated this efficiently.

April 20, 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.


PORT MORESBY: SHOWDOWN!

(TN – Darwin) Time has run out to deliver supplies and reinforcements to Port Moresby. The Japanese are coming.

Allied reconnaissance aircraft have spotted a Japanese task force rounding the corner of Buna, the southeastern point of New Guinea, and heading to Port Moresby to the west. Spotted within the task force are two heavy cruisers, a troop transport, a Kokaro class destroyer, and at least one other unidentified ship. Allied military intelligence suspects that the task force contains more ships than this. The ship came from waters where there are known to be at least six Japanese battleships.

The task force is a little over 200 nautical miles from Port Moresby and can reach the port within a day.

Southwest Pacific Command immediately started to discuss how to respond to this threat. Thayne News has learned that, partially due to luck, and partially due to previous planning, Southwest Pacific Command thinks that they are in a good position to answer the Japanese threat.

Available Resources

Port Moresby

Ground Units 5,955 soldiers belonging to the No. 112 Royal Australian Navy Base Force, and the Port Moresby Defense Brigade. These units have been preparing to fight in defense of Port Moresby since the war began. They have constructed fairly substantial fortifications, and have benefited from the arrival of two supply convoys in recent months. Even against the weight of a full Japanese division, the Port Moresby defense unit is thought to be able to hold on for at least a week.

Air Units Two squadrons of Kittyhawk fighters overburden the airport facilities, making it impossible to keep all of the planes flying. Still, the air force can put up a strong combat air patrol to protect the combat area from enemy bombers. The two squadrons presently have 19 kills to their credit fighting off earlier raids against the island. In addition, the seaplane tender Childs supports a squadron of Catalinas operating out of the harbor. Thayne News has been informed that Southwest Pacific Command may order one squadron of Kittyhawks to retire to Thursday Island, while it sends up a squadron of Vildebeasts presently on Thursday Island. Vildebeasts are torpedo bombers that performed very well against Japanese units trying to sail around Singapore in the early days of the war.

Naval Units Four destroyers and three minesweepers still sit in the harbor. This task force escorted three cargo ships to the island and have been busy fighting off Japanese air strikes against the transports.

Thursday Island: Air Units Thursday Island holds two airstrips operated and maintained by the U.S. Army 51st Base Force. The British operate over 30 Beaufort V-IX and 10 Hudson bombers from the base, as well as a squadron of Vildebeasts and a squadron of Wirraway fighter bombers. The Vildebeasts have limited range, and Southwest Pacific Command is considering sending them forward to Port Moresby itself to be able to attack the Japanese invasion fleet. Southwest Pacific Command has also ordered a squadron of B-25 Mitchell bombers up from Cooktown. All of these air units can reach Port Moresby from Thursday Island to contribute to the battle, except the Vildebeasts, which is why it is being moved to Port Moresby.

Cooktown: Air UnitsA squadron of B-25 Mitchell bombers is on its way to Thursday Island, while Cooktown itself is preparing to receive a squadron of Hudson bombers. The Hudson bombers have enough range to reach Port Moresby and contribute to the fighting there from the Australian coast.Cooktown contains a flight of , all of which can base force is well equipped to keep a large number of air units flying.

TF1107 Allied Military Intelligence reports that they believe the Japanese are not aware of Task Force 1107. The task force recently delivered cargo and troops to Thursday Island and started its trip back only within the last few hours. In addition to troop transports and minesweepers for anti-submarine combat, TF1107 holds a light cruiser and 13 destroyers. In addition, Port Moresby holds another 4 destroyers. Combined, there are over 20 combat ships in position to challenge the Japanese attack force. However, these 20 destroyers would have to combat against a task force that almost certainly contains Japanese heavy cruisers, and which probably contains Japanese battleships.

TF1179 One light cruiser and nine destroyers are assembling at Cairns in Australia, along with a number of troop transports, in preparation for a mission to deliver the 7th Australian Division to Port Moresby. The Australian infantry was due to start loading onto the boats in the next 24 hours. Southwest Pacific Command is considering the possibility of sending the transports to Port Moresby anyway to reinforce the defenders. The Port Moresby defensive group is expected to be able to hold on at least for a week, meaning that there is enough time to deliver the reinforcements.

Combined, the allied armed forces have over 5,000 well supplied troops on the ground at Port Moresby, 20 combat surface ships in the immediate area and 9 more combat ships nearby, a landing task force with an Australian infantry division ready to embark, and over 100 airplanes ready to participate in the fight. General Thompson reports that he thinks this is sufficient to give the Japanese a bloody nose.

Allied military planners are also counting on the fact that the Japanese carrier force is on the eastern side of the Coral Sea, hovering near the Santa Cruz Islands. This means that they will be unavailable for a battle around Port Moresby for at least a few days.


Another Chinese Division Prepares for Burma Breakout

(TN – Dacca) Southeast Asia Command reports that another Chinese division is approaching Myitkyina from the east, in the hopes of marching through the town and on to the India. The town appears once again to be undefended as the Japanese concentrate their units further south. The200 Chinese Division is now five days’ march from the town. If the Japanese act quickly, they have an opportunity to occupy the village and prevent the Chinese breakthrough. However, allied military intelligence is seeing no sign of Japanese movement in this direction. The breakout would give the Chinese four divisions in India. The divisions are to be equipped and trained according to western standards, and then return to Myitkyina to stay.


Letter From the Editor

From time to time Thayne News receives letters of support and praise from our readers. We would like our readers to know that we greatly appreciate these tokens of appreciation. If not for you, our readers, we would not be here. We are always pleased to hear from our readers and wanted to take this opportunity to express our appreciation.

April 21, 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.


PORT MORESBY ATTACKED

(TN – Brisbane) A small Japanese bombardment force, earlier thought to be an invasion force, reached Port Moresby during the night and began to bombard the shore installations. The task force was made up of four destroyers. One of the destroyers hit a mine. Stopping its engines, it drifted into a second mine before stopping.

The destroyers were thought to be a probe of the Port Moresby defenses in preparation for an eventual Japanese landing operation. Allies are hoping to be able to destroy the probe. In addition, the Japanese plan may have been counter-productive, since it is led to speeding up operations to reinforce the city as well as a shuffling of air units to better defend the stronghold.

While the destroyers sought to deal with the damage to the mine, air units from Port Moresby itself, Thursday Island, and Cooktown attacked the task force. Bombers from Cooktown were the first to deliver damage to the enemy fleet, putting one bomb each on two separate destroyers. One of the destroyers hit was the same destroyer damaged by a mine earlier. It provided an easier target as it sat in the harbor without moving.

Vildebeast torpedo bombers taking off from Port Moresby hit the same mine-damaged destroyer with a torpedo.

Four allied destroyers, which had temporarily left the harbor returned to challenge the four Japanese destroyers. The dual that followed led to light damage to a Japanese destroyer and equal damage to the Allied destroyer Preston in the exchange.

Between efforts dealing with the mines, coastal guns, air attacks, and surface combat, the Japanese destroyers took a few minutes to shell their intended targets. Two of the four destroyers fired on the port facilities, while two others trained their guns on the airfield. Both pairs of ship managed to land shells in a few important buildings at their target sites.

The Japanese bombardment force will likely try to leave during the night. Southwest Pacific Command is confident that the Japanese remain unaware of a blockade of 13 destroyers and a light cruisers ready to intercept the Japanese attack force as it tries to return home. One of the Japanese destroyers, badly damaged by two mines and a torpedo, will not likely sail far.

The Japanese supported their bombardment attack with a massive air raid escorted by over sixty Zero fighters. The fighters removed all of the Kittyhawk fighters out of the Port Moresby sky, giving its bombers unrestricted access to the ships in harbor. They hit the minesweeper Robin midship and broke the ship in half. It sank within a minute of being hit. They also delivered the Coup de Gras to the cargo ship Henry S. Grove and sent it to the bottom of the harbor, but not until after the last of its cargo had been removed.

Empire aircraft flying out of Cairns flew members of the 7th Australian Infantry division to try to hold the city against a Japanese invasion, while other elements from the same division loaded onto transports that recently reached Cairns. The airplanes brought in an additional 200 soldiers, including 9 squads of infantry and several smaller pieces of artillery. The transports presently being loaded at Cairns are expected to bring over 7,000 soldiers to the city. However, those who do not fit on the boats, will be arriving by air. Port Moresby presently has more than enough supply to support a substantially larger ground combat force.


Phoenix Succumbs to Its Wounds

(TN – Noumea) The damaged light cruiser Phoenix failed to reach shore before the damage from Japanese carrier attacks several days earlier claimed the ship. The loss of Phoenix means that the Japanese destroyed one heavy cruisers and three light cruisers in the attack, as well as damaging a destroyer and sinking a transport ship.

Presently, it appears that the Japanese are retreating to the northeast. The last time the Allies saw this maneuver, the carrier force quickly reversed direction and returned to the Santa Cruz Islands, inflicting significant damage on a task force it caught at the Santa Cruz islands. Therefore, Admiral Nimitz told his commanders to be cautious about resupplying the forward islands.


163 Airplanes Fly Into Burma

(TN – Dacca) Southeast Asia Command reported that 163 airplanes flew into Japanese occupied regions in the India/Burma theater yesterday. This was a typical day for the Allied air force. Airplanes struck four key cities along the front line; Akyab, Pagan, Mandalay, and Myitkyina.

Most of the raids focus on keeping the Japanese from being able to use its forward airfields. The airfields at Akyab get particular attention, since they are so close to the ports of Diamond Harbor and Chadpur, which get regular shipments of supply from Calcutta. Airplanes flying against Myitkyina have noticed that the town is only very lightly occupied, so they too focus their efforts on the city’s airfield.

Some of the missions aim their destructive power at ground units. Reconnaissance aircraft have noticed a significant buildup at Mandalay, including over 150 armored vehicles, nearly 400 guns. These formations have become a rich target for missions aimed at weakening the Burma ground forces. Each day, a squadron of fighter bombers target another gun emplacement or array of vehicles in an attempt to take them out of the war.

Heavy bombers flying from Dacca have been engaged in strategic bombing against Pagan and Mandalay. Its most recent mission was an attack on pumping facilities in southern Mandalay where oil gets loaded onto tanker cars for the trip south to Rangoon. They left the rail yard and pumping station a burning mass of scrap metal before returning to home.

Reconnaissance aircraft typically accompany the bombing run to assess the damage, and to pick new targets for the next day. Southeast Asia Command maintains a list of targets, and sees no risk of running out of things to do any time soon.

The Burma raids do not include nearly 50 planes delivering cargo to the Chinese city of Yunan. At Jorhat, 117 Squadron and No. 34 Royal Australian Air Force Squadron have recently been joined by 34 Squadron. Each day. Each day, 40 airplanes take off from the Jorhat airfield to make the trip to Yunan, unload, and return. Yunan is also being supplied by a squadron of PBYs flying out of Dacca.

Another 100 cargo planes are on their way from the United States to add to this effort. The task force carrying the reinforcements left Perth, Australia, five days ago for a trip around the Dutch East Indies to Columbo. It is expected to arrive within the next couple of weeks, and will triple the amount of supplies that the allies can deliver to China.

April 22, 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 DESTROYERS ESCAPE

(TN – Brisbane) The Japanese destroyers that attacked Port Moresby seem to have broken through the screening force set up to intercept them, and are on their way back to Japanese controlled waters. This includes the damaged Japanese destroyer, which appeared to have no trouble moving as quickly as its sister ships.

Reconnaissance aircraft looking at the waters where the destroyers are running to, found a large enemy combat group consisting of a battleship, a half dozen heavy cruisers, and a number of smaller ships near the enemy destroyers. Military strategists are considering the possibility that the Japanese were attempting to set up an ambush, using the destroyers as bait. According to their assessment, the Japanese were hoping that an allied force would pursue the fleeing destroyers to a location where the battleship and heavy cruisers could destroy the pursuit task force. The Japanese would have the assistance of a large number of Betty bombers and Zero fighters known to be stationed at Rabaul.

General Thompson is withdrawing the screening fleet to Cairns. Those ships in the best condition will participate in the mission to deliver the 7th Australian Division to Port Moresby, while those that have suffered the most wear and tear will move to ports further south for maintenance and refit.


Nimitz Reprimands Aukland Port Authority

(TN – Aukland) Setting off an international incident, Admiral Nimitz publicly reprimanded Lieutenant General Puttick, the commander of forces in New Zealand. In an official letter to Allied Strategic Command, Nimitz accused Puttick of dereliction of duty and incompetence concerning a request to repair and refit the carriers Saratoga and Lexington. According to the statement, the two carriers showed up at Aukland over a week ago for repairs and refit, and “nothing at all has been done to the ships.” This is in spite of the fact that Nimitz had ordered the repairs rushed to deal with Japanese carrier forces at Santa Cruz Islands. Those carrier forces sank five ships, including the heavy cruiser Louisville.

When Nimitz first protested the slow progress being made on the carriers, Lieutenant General Puttick asked for some assistance. Nimitz arranged for the repair ship Vestal to go to Aukland to help in the refit operations. When he next checked on the ship, Puttick is alleged to have responded that he has a half dozen ships in Aukland in need of repair, and the carriers are getting their fair share of the resources available. Nimitz responded by moving all ships other than the carriers to other ports to finish their refit.

Still, when Nimitz checked on the two carriers yesterday, he learned that they were in exactly the same state of ill repair. According to sources in South Pacific Command, Nimitz flew into a range and set off messages to Puttick and to Allied High Command containing language that Thayne News cannot repeat on these pages.

Nimitz is reportedly considering moving the carriers back to Pearl Harbor where they can at least be made ready for battle again.

Nimitz is reportedly anxious to strike Japanese shipping in the Solomon Islands, conducting the same type of raid that Japan recently launched against the Santa Cruz Islands. He has also been having discussions with General Thompson about a strike to retake Gili Gili,, in New Guinea, and retake control of the horn of New Guinea.

In the mean time, the Japanese carrier force continues to hover in the waters north of Santa Cruz.


Jap Carriers Thwart Santa Cruz Reinforcement

(TN – Noumea) Admiral Nimitz called back a mission that was heading north to deliver a New Zealand infantry brigade to Reef Island. He ordered the task force to depart when it looked as if the Japanese were finally withdrawing their carrier force from the region. However, flying boats from nearby Ndimi Island reported the carrier force reversing direction. Consequently, Nimitz ordered the landing force to pull back to Luganville, and to prepare to make the trip as soon as the Japanese carriers pull away.

The landing force will still have to deal with Japanese attack planes flying out of fields as far away as Rangoon. It was originally part of Nimitz plan to organize several landing task forces into one large mission that would land on both islands while under the cover of carrier based fighters. However, Nimitz two carriers are still undergoing refit in Aukland (see related story), and will not be available to protect the landing ships. Nimitz ordered the task force to Reef Island without air support, fearing the possibility of a Japanese occupation of the island.

Yesterday, Japan completed its conquest of the Solomon Islands with the occupation of Tulagi. Nimitz expects Japan to use Tulagi and other nearby islands as a base for launching its next conquest against the Santa Cruz islands. Nimitz has stated that he has no intention of allowing the Japanese to take the Santa Cruz islands as easily as they took the Solonoms.


Occupation of Timor Begins

(TN – Darwin) The expected Japanese occupation of Timor began yesterday with Japanese landing craft showing up at beaches near Kupang, on the west side of the island. Kupang is outside of the range of airplanes operating out of Darwin, but is within range of airplanes flying out of Wyndham and Derby in northern Australia.

The Australian government has placed both towns under martial law. They have asked that civilians consider moving out of these towns and move further south, so that they would not become casualties of war. Those that remain will be subject to a rigid system of passes and kerfews to prevent sabotage and spying.

Bomber squadrons in those towns have been undergoing training while searching the waters north of Australia for signs of a Japanese invasion fleet. General Thompson gave the bomber squadrons new orders to attack shipping at Kupang. Meanwhile, Darwin continues to serve as a pivotal base for the region.

Sources within Southwest Pacific Command said that their greatest concern was protecting Darby and Wyndham from Japanese bombardment. Adding fighter cover to the towns would mean reducing the fighter cover available over Darwin, making that base more vulnerable. Without fighter cover, Japan would be able to declare open season on facilities in northern Australia, except Darwin,

Australia will soon benefit from the arrival of nearly 150 airplanes in two fighter groups from the United States. Some sources at Southwest Pacific Command are suggesting that Derby and Wyndham be used as assembly points for the two new squadrons, until they get fully operational. The fighter groups would then be able to get some experience against the occasional Japanese bomber raids.


England Plans Major Air Upgrade

(TN – Dacca) For several months now, Allied Military Command has been considering a plan to upgrade the British air presence in India. Many British squadrons in the region have been flying outdated airplanes, such as the Brewster Buffalo and the bi-wing Vildebeest, while the home office hoarded the better planes for the defense of England. With America in the war providing England with new airplanes, England has decided to shift some of its airplanes to the Japanese front.

The air war against Japan in Burma has been one of the high points in the war. However, the air war has benefited significantly from A-10, LB-30, B-17, and P-40 aircraft from the United States. The British Hurricane fighters in the region do not have enough range to attack the Japanese, and the British Buffalo fighters are wholly inadequate against the Japanese Zero. These planes have only been useful in assaulting ground units or flying combat air patrol over friendly airbases.

England has already shipped many of the new planes to the forward bases. Air group commanders are considering how best to roll out the new planes in a way that does not disrupt the current air operations against Japan. Present plans call for upgrading three units each week, waiting for those units to get established with their new equipment, then upgrade another three units.

The upgrades are scheduled to start on May 1.

April 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.


INVASION: PORT MORESBY

(TN – Brisbane) A second Japanese task force is heading toward Port Moresby, and allied military intelligence thinks this is the actual invasion.

The second task force is much larger than the first. Reconnaissance aircraft report seeing two battleships, four cruisers, two destroyers, and two transports heading for Port Moresby. Military strategists believe that the destroyers were a part of a probe. Since the destroyers were able to reach the target with little difficulty, the larger invasion fleet was given the go-head to land at Port Moresby.

In addition to the invasion fleet, patrols operating out of Port Moresby and manning lookout stations on the Owen Stanley Ridge to the north and east of the city report Japanese units coming overland over the Kokoda Trail. They are still several days’ travel away from Port Moresby across very inhospitable terrain, but they provide a second threat to Port Moresby.

The destroyer probe did provide a benefit in helping the allies prepare for the invasion. In the three days since they became alerted to the possibility of invasion by the probe, General Thompson has ordered a reorganization of his forces to prepare for the attack. The 7th Australian Division are being airlifted to Port Moresby at a rate of 200 soldiers per day, while the bulk of the division are loading up onto troop transports for a counter-invasion. New air units capable of reaching Port Moresby have moved into Thursday Island, Cooktown, and Cairnes.

According to sources in Southwest Pacific Command, some senior staff members are trying to talk General Thompson out of attempting to hold Port Moresby. These sources argue that the allies should save their strength for a more serious fight – perhaps at Thursday Island or the northeastern coast of Australia. The Japanese would then face a larger Allied defense where they allies would be able to put up a more determined fight. Thompson, in response, has argued that it is better to fight the Japanese as far away from Australia as possible.

There are concerns that a substantial portion of the 7th Australian Infantry Division may be lost in an attempt to launch a counter-landing at Port Moresby. The allies have no ships in the area capable of going toe-to-toe against the Japanese battleships and heavy cruisers. Even against these concerns, General Thompson has an answer. “The Japanese can afford to have its major combat ships in port undergoing repair than we can afford to have our minor combat ships sunk.”


Chinese Assault Lashio

(TN – Dacca) The Chinese 93rd Infantry Division launched an attack yesterday against the Japanese occupied city of Lashio in northern Burma. Intelligence on Lashio was scarce, in spite of repeated aerial reconnaissance of the city before the Chinese infantry arrived. The attackers had thought that they would be facing a Japanese division, and hoped only for a diversion that would be enough to help the 200 Chinese Division occupy and move through Myitkyina. However, upon entering the city, the Chinese division found only a little more than a thousand defenders.

The Japanese put up a fierce defense and the Chinese were unable to make any significant progress to take the city. The Chinese were considering a withdraw around the city to try to get to India. However, upon seeing that there were so few Japanese defenders, the Chinese decided to try to take the city.

General Pownall, leader of the Southeast Asia Command, has agreed to provide the Chinese division with all available air support. All medium and long range bombers capable of reaching the city have been assigned targets. It is hoped that the strike will be enough to help dislodge the Chinese forces.

In the mean time, the 200th Chinese Division has nearly reached the outskirts of Myitkyina. Sources in Southeast Asia Command report confidence that they will soon have another Chinese division to equip and train in eastern India. “Between the Philippine army, Indians, British, Australian, Chinese, and American armies, we will have a substantial force for our ultimate push to take and hold Myitkyina.”


Carriers Haunt Ndimi

(TN – Noumea) The Japanese Carrier Force seems reluctant to leave the Santa Cruz Islands alone. Allied military continues to withhold support from the region, sending supplies to Ndimi by air plane while supply and reinforcements gather at Efate further south. The most recent attack involved approximate 50 carrier planes attacking Ndimi. They were not able to inflict any significant damage and at least one Japanese bomber was destroyed.


Kimmel Orders Organized Occupation of Howland Island

(TN – Pearl Harbor) Looking at the destruction caused to task forces attempting to supply Port Moresby in the Southwest Pacific, and Ndimi in the South Pacific, Admiral Kimmel has ordered that the occupation of Howland Island be organized, with carrier air cover, as if going up against an enemy held stronghold. Kimmel is said to be particularly concerned about betty bombers flying out of the Japanese held islands to the west of Howland Island. He hopes to use fighter cover from Baker Island and at least two carriers to protect the occupation and supply of Howland Island.

April 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.


BATTLE FOR PORT MORESBY BEGINS

(TN – Brisbane) The battle for Port Moresby did not start the way Southwest Pacific Command expected, but it did start today with a Japanese incursion against the city’s outer defenses.

The expectation was that a task force traveling along the southern coast of New Guinea would land an invasion force at Port Moresby. The task force, consisting of two battleships, a heavy cruiser, a light cruiser, and nine destroyers, entered Walter Bay during the night, and shelled the installations. The bombardment inflicted an estimated 70 casualties against the defenders. The task force then disappeared. Aerial reconnaissance of the Gulf of Papua could find no sign of the task force the next morning.

The attack did not come from the sea, but over the Owen Stanley Ridge. A Japanese advance unit overran a string of observation posts at Naoro, driving the Australian crew back toward Port Moresby. There were few casualties, but the defenders did not that the Japanese were approaching the city in force.

A Japanese advance squad attacked the allied advance warning post at Naoro, driving the Australian defenders back through Auwaiabaiwa.

Brigadier General Knox, commander of the 7th Australian Division and overall commander of the military presence at Port Moresby, immediately responded by moving units north to intercept the advancing Japanese. Aides to General Knox told Thayne News that its forward units will put up a first line of defense at Auwaiabaiwa, about 40 kilometers east of Port Moresby. One company of infantry from the Port Moresby Defense Brigade will attempt to slow the Japanese advance, and call in artillery support against the advancing Japanese.

These units will then withdraw to another line of defense, and then another, until reaching the main line of defense around Port Moresby at a place called Bisianamu Station. The road, at this point, travels along the bottom of a hill where General Knox has stationed his soldiers. Knox’s defenses go along the ridgeline, then moves down and cuts across the road, to trap the Japanese in a killing field against allies who have a height advantage and heavy artillery in support.

Knox’s objective, according to General Thompson, the commander of the forces in the Southwest Pacific, is to hold out for the four days it will take to get the rest of the 7th Australian Division to Port Moresby. The units are already loaded in troop transports at Cairnes. They will pick up an escort of over twenty destroyers and light cruisers as it travels to Port Moresby.

In a meeting with senior staff members after discussing the options for Port Moresby, General Thompson said, “We are in a good position to make a stand here, and we will. We can at least slow the Japanese forces down, while our factories generate an ever increasing swarm of supplies and while our defenses grow behind the lines.”

Thompson then ordered the 6th Australian Division, and the 101st Australian Anti Tank Regiment to prepare to reinforce Port Moresby as well.


China Driven from Lashio

(TN – Dacca) Air units in eastern India were unable to provide any assistance to the Chinese division attempting to push into Lashio yesterday, allowing the Japanese to drive the Chinese division back into the mountains. In a one-sided battle, the Chinese division decided to withdraw to the safety of the mountains and to wait another opportunity to challenge the Japanese.

However, at Myitkyina, the 200th Chinese Division was able to enter the city in the face of almost no resistance. The division will now continue on to India. The Chinese soldiers went around disarming the small Japanese police force and arresting Japanese officials, restoring control of the town to the Burmese citizens. The After distributing whatever supplies the army can find in Myitkyina, the Chinese division plans on continuing on to Ledo, and then to Dacca, to join three other Chinese divisions in training for a return trip to Burma.

The 49th, 38th, and 28th Chinese Division should be arriving at training camps established for them at Dacca within the next day. The units have had an exhausting trip through northern Burma. The 49th Chinese Division has lost approximately 40% of its soldiers during the march, and was forced to leave most of their heavy guns behind in the Burma jungle. Training experts predict it will take at least two months to rebuild the units back to their full combat strength. These units will add their strength to the defense of the region around Dacca and Diamond Harbor until they are considered ready to return to Burma.


Japan Gains in Air War

(TN – Brisbane) Japanese successes in air combat against Port Moresby and Darwin are allowing the Japanese to close the gap in air unit losses in the Pacific Theater. In recent weeks, Japanese forces have been able to shoot down two Allied airplanes for each plane of their own shot down. The gap in air units lost have closed significantly.

Allied military strategists say that this is not a concern. One senior official said, “We can win a war against Japan where we shoot down an equal number of planes. We have more planes. Sheer numbers will start to show their advantage against Japan.”

The comment drew some shouts of outrage by other senior officials who heard it. “These are not pawns in a chess game to be sacrificed without compassion or a second thought,” a senior officer said. The debate continued in the halls of Southwest Pacific Theater into the early evening.


Allied Submarine Blasts Jap Transport

(TN – Dacca) An Allied submarine, carrying elements of the Philippine Army 61st Division to India, yesterday ran across a lone Japanese troop transport moving east in the South China Sea. Finding no other enemy in the region, its captain surfaced and fired the boat’s 4 inch guns at the enemy ship. The first shells hit the enemy bridge and engines, causing the enemy ship to slow significantly. The submarine SS Seawolf then fired a spread of torpedoes, two of which struck the enemy ship, setting in on fire.

Since Seawolf was heading to home port and expected little need for additional ammunition, Lieutenant Commander Warder ordered the guns to fire at will against the enemy ship. Seawolf[ crewmen raked the ship with continuing fire from the machine guns and the 4” deck gun for over an hour, scoring at least a dozen additional gun hits on the enemy ship. Warder, with one remaining torpedo in reserve, submerged the sub and continued the trip to bring his Philippine soldiers safely to India.

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