Word: lae
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Despite the U.S. heavy bombers' heavy toll, the Jap dipped next day into his deep reservoir of shipping and brought out four transports, determinedly convoyed by two cruisers and four destroyers. The destination: Lae (rhymes with gay) 150 miles up the New Guinea coast from Buna, where the Jap has his nearest foothold...
Next morning the convoy reached the vicinity of Lae, where more Zeros undertook to protect it. Then George Kenney's airmen really started to work. Besides Fortresses, Liberators and Lightnings, George Kenney has samples of almost every type of combat plane the U.S. can produce: twin-engined Boston (A-20), Marauder (B26) and Mitchell (B25) bombers, Kittyhawk (P-40) fighters, plus some Australian Beaufighters and Beaufort bombers. The turbo-supercharged Lightnings can hit the Zeros high, and the heavily-armed Kittyhawks catch them when they come down...
...night and next day George Kenney's airmen hammered at the convoy and its protecting planes. Mitchell bombers sank a transport which rolled over in the shallow water near the Lae jetty, knocked down five Zeros which attempted to interfere. Beaufighters swept into the Lae airdrome, burnt up one Zero, shot up others on the runway. In the late afternoon the oft-derided Kittyhawks were attacked by 18 Zeros. Score: 13 Zeros shot down, one Kittyhawk (pilot safe). When 20 more Zeros jumped some Lightnings they lost all but five. Total Jap planes lost in three days: 85 certain...
...only 32 miles from Port Moresby. MacArthur, his chief of staff Major General Richard K. Sutherland (a pilot himself), Australian General Blamey and Kenney fixed on a plan: to wrest control of the air, despite hell and high mountains, by blasting the Japs out of Buna and far-off Lae and Salamaua, the bases from which Buna was supplied...
...MacARTHUR's HEADQUARTERS, Australia--Allied troops closed from three sides today on Sanananda Point, last Japanese foothold in the Papuan area of New Guinea, as remnants of an enemy convey which was battered for three days at Lae were reported fleeing north-eastward...