The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, The Echo and The Sun TUESDAY,JUNE 9, 1942. "IT CAN HAPPEN HERE"

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIII, Issue 134, 9 June 1942, Page 4

The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, The Echo and The Sun TUESDAY,JUNE 9, 1942. "IT CAN HAPPEN HERE"

Jf th<»v had happened oarlv in the war the raid by Japanese submarines on Sydney and Ncwia-'le would almo.-t certainly have created considerable alarm in New /eaiand Then, it would not have been easy t/> see these happening* in per.-pect ive. Hut it, is our good fortune to have passed thrrugh two and three-quarter years of war without hearing so much as an enemy rifleshot. It is our further good fortune to have gained, at. no cost to ourselves, knowledge of the ways of war, so that we are able to judge, faul.v accurately, of tiie importance or unimportance ol enemy actions This knowledge has enabled the vast majority of people to regard the /helling of Sydney and Newcastle as curious rather than important. The Japanese submarines which carried out the Attack achieved lii'ic. but they gave away the fact of their presence on the New South Aales coast, and doubtless they have done more than a thousand appeals and exhortations to sharpen the vigilance of their enemy, and steel his determination. For such a service they deserve the thanks of the Australians, as well as the bombs we may hope they will yet. receive.

- .1 TT salrl — ll is OHS . V for us to endure attacks on a city on the other side ot the Tasman. If one of our own cities had been the target, should we be equally unperturbed? It is probable that a majoritv ot our people are mentally prepared for an attack of some kind; they ° n * ro ,!' i{l ! hem selves of the idea that "it can't happen here." h'.Y'V a '"ge number of others who try to convince them?n i!,i , r -Japanese have bigger fish to fry than are to be found In this part ol the I an lie. and that in any case tftev will be deterred n'l I n'.', 1 ' 1 '! i'; ss ! Jlls J. ,K ' y hi, . vo ''ad of the growing power and übiquity mil .'.. ales Navy. Such conclusions are the product of wishful thinking. VV hat are the aims of Japan? We do not know all of them, TT„i/' n i''J. . m i ;°'', a vls l " disrupt sea communications between the United States and the many countries and islands to which American nrHinnrMv i suppllf, l ha T C ° r « oin «- The sea routes arc extraordinarily long. and vulnerable at many points to surprise attacks The Japanese submarines which moved down the Australian ''oast in sinking two cargo ships. This was a small return for their enterprise bui probably sufficient to encourage them to return in the hope of bigger prey or to try elsewhere on the shipping routes. 'I heir purpose may well SSnrihiT ° h n I ™P rrs f i " n that they are ••everywhere." to raise sharp A ml"!™ , "owhere' are the sea routes safe, to cause a dispersal the Allied naval forces. If this is their purpose it is probable that the New Zealand const will not escape their attention. arce P' er ' as a probability—no one would call it a certainty r UP k" defence organisations, both uniformed and civil ♦tl^i sharp vigilance and renewed attention to every detail of tjk? r preparations. There falls upon the people the duty of revising il JJ, n ° WleflgC V. Whnt u° (l ° ln an emergency, and what not to da In . ydney, according to the report, the shelling began at 12.5 a m and the alarm was sounded shortly before 12.30. The interval was far too long Moreover, although the belief prevailed that an air raid was Imminent, people had to be moved from the streets, where they sought a grandstand view." If it had been an air raid, and a heavy one manv of hem wou rl now be dead. This is not said in particular criticism of Sydney people, for there is good reason to believe that the behaviour k! P ,n P ?J n . u' would not have been different. What must oLi mi iS > tha , t the ' n «truction which so many people have had. over i 3g 1"' .1 what to do in an emergency," is useless unless it Is applied when the emergency arises. The idea that "it can't happen to a me e "°7t can Ugh ' eVe " m ° re daneerous ls the idea that "it Sn't