MPN11, thanks!
Right, here goes nothing!
(Using an old dictionary here to find outdated characters and expressions, with no-one nearby to consult! Although the pamphlet itself proclaims ‘Minister for the Army,General Tojo Hideki’ as author on the cover, this particular article is signed by one Yoshioka Kenji.)
Army air force attacks Port Darwin for the first time
In the southern Pacific Ocean, our army air force has doubled up with the naval air forces to impressive effect since the start of the war, and now finally their hands have reached the Australian mainland. Port Darwin, the enemy’s greatest base, located in the northwest tip,was subjected to a first great bombing by our ‘army eagles’.
In the early hours of June 20th Showa 18 (1943), a large bomber formation of ‘army eagles’ solemnly assembled and left XX aerodrome, flying over the Arafura Sea below, and proceeded into western lands. At 10:20 in the morning they pounced upon Australia’s frontline Port of Darwin, struggling feverishly to resupply itself under repeated hammer attacks by the naval airforces. At this sudden attack, an enemy force of 40-plus Spitfires came up in angry challenge, and the skies above Port Darwin were enveloped in incredible explosive sounds and flames as a vast aerial battle was set off. Our supreme warbirds took out 27 enemy fighters in no time at all, and we took our leave. At the same time, our bombers left behind what looked like a burning net on the ground of several areas of flaming army barracks; the buildings at the eastern airstrip were also set alight, dealing the enemy a heavy exhaustive blow.
To prove how fierce had been this first attack by the army air forces, two days later on 22 June when a large formation of our fighters made a follow-up attack on Port Darwin, not a single enemy plane was sent up to meet us, and the area was observed to be burnt out and flattened, showing starkly the truth of the matter.”
(Translation guaranteed 97% accurate, jolihokistix, 4 May 2017. The 3% is just to be on the safe side!)