RAID ON PONAPE

Auckland Star, Volume LXXV, Issue 41, 18 February 1944, Page 5

RAID ON PONAPE

'ON FROM MARSHALLS'

Nimitz's Policy Of Forceful,

Cumulative Action

N.Z.P.A. Special Correspondent Rec. 1 p.m. SYDNEY, this day. The first attack by American heavy bombers, reported yesterday to have been made on the Japanese base of Ponape, in the Carolines, was regarded here as an indication that United States forces in the Central Pacific were preparing to follow up their victory in the Marshalls at the earliest possible moment. Truk is 425 miles west of Ponape. "Whether the American planes came from the Gilbert Islands or from the newly-captured Marshalls, the raid on Ponape demonstrated Admiral Nimitz's policy that each new island should be used as a base for cumulative aggressive action against the enemy," comments the Sydney Morning Herald military correspondent to-day. "It is reasonable to suppose now," the correspondent adds, "that the campaign for the Marshalls is entering its final phase and that the blow against Ponape is the beginning of further and continuous offensive operations against the Carolines, and even the Marianas." Air Bases at Ponape The aeroplane and seaplane bases at Ponape have been used to interfere with American operations in the Marshalls and the immediate effect of the latest air blow will be towards neutralising this interference as well as weakening the line of enemy communications to the south. "The Americans are under no illusions as to the great strength of Truk if only because of the nature of the encircling reef, with its four narrow openings," says the Sydney Morning Herald correspondent. It has been repeatedly suggested that the best strategy, to pursue would be the neutralisation of Truk by the occupation of such adjacent groups as Ponape. The Carolines consist of 577 islets, stretching over 2000 square miles and they thus afford ample opportunities to repeat the Marshalls method of striking at unexpected spots."