Scuttlebutt or news. June 23, 1944.

Tonight I want to mention some important details on the operation on Saipan [in the Mariana Islands, north of Guam, south of Japan, east of the Philippines and west of Hawaii].. The last casualties aboard reported the chief difficulty encountered in the hills was ferreting the enemy out of the caves, some as deep as 100 yards. If anyone is under any illusions as to how short this war may be, let them consider how many caves there are to be cleaned out in the rest of the key bases of the enemy. Caves are playing an important part in the enemy’s defense. The trick used in Guadalcanal of firing rounds of artillery and then running the gun back into a cave before planes could find it, was used to devastating effect upon us. The mysterious eight inch gun was mounted on tracks, ruin out, fired and then backed into a cave that was fitted with steel doors. By careful watch they finally got that one…

Betty Drops In. November 6, 1944.

Now here is the corrected story of what happened last night. About 0130 radar picked up twelve enemy planes headed this way. Six of these planes got through and dropped about six bombs in the vicinity of the airstrips on Morotai [Eastern Indonesia] in three different raids.

The bombs were of the heavy, new type, designed to explode several hundred feet off the ground, throwing an incendiary phosphorous over a wide area. As far as we can learn no one was killed.

The Japanese planes were identified as two-motor Bettys, probably from bases in the Celebes or Borneo. Two of them were shot down, one by a black widow night fighter and the other by ack-ack.

The same type of attack has been held here nightly for the past few weeks with one exception. Sometimes the attacks are stronger than at other times. It is no wonder that they pick on the airstrips. It is hard to imagine just how big they are without actually seeing them.

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-readersvoice.com