Yanks within sight of Iwo north coast
GUAM (UP) – U.S. Marines virtually split in two the last desperately-resisting Japs on Iwo today with a drive to a 100-foot cliff overlooking the northeast coast.
“It won’t be long before this thing is over,” Vice Adm. Richmond Kelley Turner, commander of the Pacific amphibious forces, said after a tour of the tiny island on Japan’s front doorstep.
Enemy hard hit
Front reports indicated that a 3rd Marine Division spearhead at the center of the line had gained the cliff commanding the steep northeastern beach after ramming through the last defenses in the area.
The push all but severed enemy forces on the north coast from those along the northeast shore.
The 5th Division advanced along the northern tip of Iwo in a frontal drive against the enemy’s northern pocket.
In rugged terrain
The 4th Division was still encountering difficulty in rugged terrain along the east coast, but the 3rd Division’s breakthrough to the north threatened the rear of enemy’s northeastern pocket.
A Pacific Fleet communiqué said the surviving Japs, believed fewer than 4,000, were defending every prepared position desperately with heavy and light machine guns and intense small arms fire.