On 18 October the USAAF attacked Leyte Island, followed two days later by troop landings in strength, the biggest amphibious operation in the Pacific to date. A great battle ensued at sea and in the air, and by 25 October the Japanese Navy had been virtually destroyed in Leyte Gulf by the US 7th Fleet. The US Sixth Army fought the Japanese on the island, taking the east coast by the following day, and all organised resistance ceased by the end of the month. This is the first of the Philippine Islands to be captured, a great achievement when one considers that it is nearly 5000 miles from the nearest US Naval dockyard at Pearl Harbor. RAF ATTACK DAMS The RAF has been attacking dams which supply the power for the Nazi war machine, successfully breaching the Kembs dam near Mulhouse, but on 15 October an attack by Lancasters on the Sorpe Dam in the Ruhr proved no more successful than the famous assault by the _ Dambusters_ in May 1943. The Oxford Diecast Headlines MacArthur made of Diecast Metal/Mazak is Number SC005 in the range.
