WASHINGTON
(UP)—Mighty American B-29 Superfortress bombers operating from secret bases in
China struck devastating blows on targets in Japan Thursday in an historic raid
which launched a new type of aerial offensive destined to become global in
scope.
PEARL, HARBOR
(UP) —
United States
assault troops attempting to wrest Saipan island from the fiercely resisting J
a p a n e s e garrison have secured beachheads and are advancing inland against well-organized
defenses,
Tokyo Says Raiders Hit Kyushu Isle
Twin Falls, Idaho, Friday
Morning, June 16, 1944
Super-Fortresses
Strike Large
Cities
From Bases in China;
Mariana
Isles Invasion Gaining
Targets of Air Dreadnaughts
Reported to
Include Tokyo;
Army Chiefs Hail
Offensive
WASHINGTON
(UP)—Mighty American B-29 Superfortress bombers operating from secret bases in
China struck devastating blows on targets in Japan Thursday in an historic raid
which launched a new type of aerial offensive destined to become global in
scope.
The war
department, in its first terse announcement of the attack, did not name the
targets hut Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson later said that "several
large cities were bombed," and Rep. Joe Starnes (D-Ala.) said on the house
floor that one of them was Tokyo.
Stimson said the raids brought
"the heart of Japan under the guns and bombs of the Army air forces."
He described the blow as
"another phase of our war in the Pacific" and congratulated "the
men who planned this action and manned the planes that carried it out."
The war department did not name
the raiders' base but it can be said that the huge bombers—the world's most lethal
aerial weapon — flew Large numbers of them
sent into the –China-Burma-India
theater some months ago. It iapBearea;that
use of the ship^ was delayed until
they could hit Jap war centers with a terrifying
cumulative effect instead of a
simple “token” bombing.
New
Type' Offensive
Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Marshall and Gen. H. H., Arnold, chief of the Army air forces hailed the raid
as opening- a “new type of offensive that will soften up Japan for the kill.
They addedthat the offensive tactics developed
will be used later on a. global basis.
__________________________________
Japs Say Korea Raided'
By United Press
A Japanese broadcast reported
by FCC monitors early.
Friday said that several enemy planes
had raided Korea,
a Japanese-occupied territory
on the Asiatic mainland.
__________________________________
It was the first time .that the newly
perfected aerial dreadnaught was disclosed to have. been, used in combat
although its existence long has been known. It is so powerful that it relegates
the Flying Fortress and Liberator to a medium-range . bombing category.
Progress
of
New
Pacific
Landing
Told
PEARL, HARBOR
(UP) —
United States
assault troops attempting to wrest Saipan island from the fiercely resisting J
a p a n e s e garrison have secured beachheads and are advancing inland against well-organized
defenses, Adm. Chester W. Nimitz' second communique on the Marianas invasion
revealed Thursday night.
In general, "the fighting is
heavy but good progress is being made against well-organized defenses,"
the Pacific fleet headquarters announcement said.
The A m e r i c a n assault
troops are driving forward against military, mortar and
machine gun fire in the battle
for possession of the strategic base only 1.449 miles
and hours' flying from Tokyo.
Tokyo Says
Raiders Hit
Kyushu Isle
SAN FRANCISCO --(UP)—
Japanese imperial headquarters
announced Thursday night about 20 American B-29 Super-Fortresses and B-24
Liberators operating from China raided northern Kyushu island in the J a p a n
e s e homeland Friday morning (Japan time), and
Tokyo radio identified the
targets as the industrial cities of Yawata, Moji, and Kokura.
ejt
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