Navy Department Communique No. 253

JANUARY 17, 1943

South Pacific (all dates are east longitude).

1. On January 15th:
• (a) During the evening, enemy planes bombed U. S. positions on Guadalcanal Island. Minor material damage was inflicted and some casualties among our troops were suffered.
• (b) U. S. ground forces continued to advance slowly against determined enemy resistance.
2. On January 16th, during the early afternoon, a force of “Marauder” medium bombers (Martin B-26) with “Airacobra” (Bell P-39) and “Warhawk” (Curtiss P-40) escort bombed Japanese positions at Munda, on New Georgia Island. A number of hits were scored in the target area.