Imperial Valley Press

Royal Navy Sends
Planes to Harass
Jap Island Base
LONDON, Dec. 23. (UP)-Planes of a British naval force, opening offensive operations 660 miles northwest of Singapore, have made a heavy attack on the Japanese base at Sabang island, off the northwest tip of Sumatra in the Netherlands East Indies, the admiralty announced today.

Plane crews saw large explosions which were followed by fires, the admiralty said.

Naval forces operating from the Bay of Bengal carried out the attack, which the admiralty emphasized was heavy, on Sunday night.

All planes returned safe.

While Gen. Douglas MacArthur's men were driving the Japanese into the sea in the Buna area of New Guinea, the American marines and the army were holding Guadalcanal island in the southern Solomons as an eventual offensive base and the British and Indian army of Gen. Sir Archibald Wavell marched back into Burma, the Royal navy went back into the tragic theater of action from which the Allies were thrown in the early days of the Pacific war.

It was indicated that the planes which made the attack were carrier borne.

Britain revealed weeks ago that it now had a powerful fleet in the Indian ocean.

Sabang, a free port on tiny Sabang or Pulo Weh island, apparently had become a major Japanese base.

Lying 308 miles west of Penang off the Malaya coast, it is in peace time the first port of call in the Malay Archipelago for vessels from Europe. It is at the western entrance to the Malacca Strait.

The harbor has a coaling station and it is sheltered from heavy ocean swells and strong winds by mountains and a high coast line.

There is a dry dock for ships up to 5,000 tons and at the eastern side of the bay there is a gasoline wharf with two tanks, which have capacity of 4,000 tons.

Goods for northern Sumatra are landed at Sabang.

The admiralty communique announcing the attack said:

"Naval forces operating in the Bay of Bengal carried out a heavy air attack Sunday night on military targets at Sabang, which lies at the northern end of the island of Sumatra."