Waves of bombers attacked a Japanese convoy of 12 transports and 10 warships headed for Lae, and almost all of them were "sunk, sinking or damaged" — official words on the Battle of the Bismarck Sea. The U.S. lost only one bomber and three fighters. MacArthur's communiqué couldn't help being exultant. The BBC says only two destroyers are still afloat — one badly damaged and the other hit, and it isn't over yet. Naturally, radio jamming is heavy here.

It's no secret that revenue officers here can be bought, and that they are more interested in checking good returns than chasing evaders. When the Japanese asked why tax evasion in Japan was four times more than in the P.I., our government took the hint and sent covert agents to check that stores were issuing receipts and charging tax. Piñol's father was almost fined P20 for failing to charge 20-centavos on a P1 sale. The truth is it was a P2 item — a Japanese soldier grabbed it, left P1 on the counter, and scooted.

The Japanese Military Police asked about Consular blacklists. The Swiss had none; the Germans submitted a list of blacklisted Swiss (Theo Meyer included), and the Spanish Consul obliged with a list of several hundred names.