War Over Wau

The Japs began pouring their planes into a new sinkhole last week. Its name was Wau.

In 1926 gold was discovered in a humid, feverish valley on the northeast coast of New Guinea, about half way between Salamaua and Buna. Men rushed into the valley, an opposite in every way to the Yukon. To get their gold out, they built an airfield at Wau, on a plateau 3,000 feet high.

When the Japanese first took Lae and Salamaua early in 1942, an Australian garrison fell back to the Wau area, and held it all through the year, even after the Japs moved to Buna. Fortnight ago, when Jap patrols infiltrated to Wau, as they have infiltrated many areas even on the south coast of New Guinea, the Allies flew reinforcements to the little Wau field --which had suddenly become more valuable than the gold it was built to carry out. The Jap patrols were pushed back.

Last week the Japs began trying to bomb Wau, and were stung for their pains. In the second largest single day's battle in the whole Australian theater, 37 U.S. Lightnings, Airacobras and Kittyhawks went up to meet 70 Japanese Zeros and twin-engined bombers. Not a single U.S. plane was shot down. The Japs lost 21 Zeros, three bombers and twelve more fighters; three more bombers were seriously damaged as to be considered "probables." Score: 41-to-0.

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