Japs drive back into northern Iwo
U.S. Marines encircle largest town on isle
GUAM (UP) – Marines of the 3rd Division shoved desperately-resisting Japs back into rocky northern Iwo today in a fighting advance to within a mile and a quarter of the north coast.
The German Transocean Agency reported from Tokyo that the Marines had launched an all-out attack on Iwo and that shells from U.S. warships off shore were hitting the island at the rate of 500 an hour.
Encircle Motoyama
The Marines already had encircled and perhaps captured the village of Motoyama, Iwo’s administrative center and largest town. The Yanks were within a few yards of an uncompleted third airfield on the tiny island only 750 miles south of Tokyo.
Radio Tokyo said Jap planes made “violent attacks” today on a concentration of U.S. warships in the vicinity of Ivo and the Bonin Islands, immediately north of Iwo.
The 3rd Marine Division gained 700 to 800 yards – the biggest day’s advance since the start of the invasion 10 days ago – at the center of the American line yesterday in the initial phases of a general assault.
Airfield cleared
While the 3rd Division was wedging deeply into the center of the enemy line, the tank-led 5th Division on the western flank drove ahead several hundred yards against stiff opposition.
The 4th Division, on the eastern flank, also went over to the attack, but made only “limited gains” against Japs firmly entrenched in sharp ridges rising from the east coast.
The 3rd division’s advance removed the enemy threat to newly-captured Motoyama Airfield No. 2 – the central airfield – as well as threatrnerd Motoyama Airfield No. 3, the uncompleted northern airtstrip, Motoyama Airfield No. 1, in Southern Iwo, was already beinfg used by artillery observation planes.
Face pillboxes
Still ahead of the Marines were hundreds more concrete pillboxes, blockhouses and gun positions in the rocky ridges at the northern end of the island. Each one must be captured or neutralized in inevitably bloody fighting.
Marine casualties have not been announced beyond 5,372 for the first 58 hours of the invasion, but Adm. Chester W. Nimitz reported in a communiqué that 4,784 Jap bodies had been recovered by 6 p.m. Monday.
One additional Jap soldier has been captured, he said, bringing the number of prisoners for the bitter campaign to 10.
Radio Tokyo claimed that U.S. casualties had reached 13,500, but acknowledged that fighting had reached the “decisive stage with the launching of a major assault by the Marines.”
Carrier aircraft also attacked a seaplane base on Chichi in the adjacent Bonin Islands Tuesday, touching off an explosion.