19 SEPTEMBER 1914, Page 2

The Secretary of the Admiralty announced last Sunday that the

Australian Squadron under Rear-Admiral Patey had occupied Herbertshile, in the island of Neu Pommern (formerly New Britain) in the Bismarck Archipelago, east of New Guinea. The landing party fought their way for six miles through the bush. The British casualties were six killed and four wounded. The German casualties were between twenty and thirty killed. The German officers were taken prisoners. Neu Pommern has an area of nine thousand five hundred square miles. Its possession by Germany has long been regarded as a danger by Australians.