CLEANING UP THE SOLOMONS

Auckland Star, Volume LXXV, Issue 40, 17 February 1944, Page 4

CLEANING UP THE SOLOMONS

•THERE is sound reason for the note of triumph in General Mac Arthur's A latest communique. In itself the capture of the Green Islands was hardly even a skirmish. It was thoroughly planned and carried out with a minimum of trouble, either on the ground or from the air, the garrison was small, and the losses to the Allies were negligible. But though the operation was not a big one it was of much importance because it put the cork in the bottle in which the Solomons are now enclosed, and New Zealanders learned with satisfaction of their Division's share in the exploit. The group is now ringed by strongly held, well protected outposts, with all the necessary land and sea bases and airfields. Scattered in between are 22,000 Japanese, isolated from their bases, robbed of all their protective airfields, and with no open road either of escape or of supply. They have been by-passed, and unless the Japanese Navy is prepared to come out and fight amid the island gateways, their doom is as effectually sealed as was that of those who tried to escape from Choiseul after the occupation of Vella Lavella. Whole battalions tried then to get away in self-propelled barges; they had far better air protection for the job than can be given to the now isolated troops. But they did not get away; the American Navy and New Zealand's little ships in the group attended to that, and the barge flotilla ceased to exist a few hours after its attempt to sneak away in the darkness. Now there are no islands out of Allied occupation through which the imprisoned garrisons can hope to filter in stages, soundlessly through the night hours until they are out of the net. That was the original escape tactic, and the Green Islands were on the line towards both Kavieng and Rabaul. Without such ports of call for refuelling and supplies escape is impossible. The Navy is on the watch for stragglers, the air fleet is constantly ranging over the waters, and it is only a matter of time before the Japanese are either starved out or so ill-supplied that they will not even be a temporary rear menace. The three-pronged drive goes well, the island hopping has developed a new strategy of isolation, which is taking a heavy toll, the New Guinea campaign progresses brilliantly, Rabaul is battered almost to the point of uselessness, Kavieng has no peace, and Truk is beginning to loom up over the horizon. The tempo is increasing everywhere, but we are still a long way from victory and rejoicing at present. Successes must be tempered by the knowledge that the hardest and most difficult fighting is still far ahead.