Bitter Fighting In New Guinea

Press, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23741, 12 September 1942, Page 5

Bitter Fighting In New Guinea

ALLIED COMMAND’S PLANS ■ ?(N .Z. Press Association-Copyright.) (Special Australian Corresp., N.Z.PA) <Rec. 12.20 a.m.) SYDNEY. September 11. The Japanese have made no further advance in their mmh towards Port Moresby Bitter fighting is still in progress, with heavy casualties on both sides. It is believed that the opposing forces are in close contact and hand-to-hand fighting has occurred between detached groups. Allied aircraft continue to give close support to the Australian troops. Attack bombers and fighters are strafing the enemy and bombing his supply dumps. The enemy is still fighting without the support of his air force. A spokesman at General Headquarters said to-day that fighting was going on in the general area of Efogi. It was probable that the question whether the Japanese had been halted or merely checked would he revealed as the outcome of the present battle. War correspondents were also told that no new developments had occurred at Milne Bay, where small parties of Japanese hiding in the jungle were still being routed out. “The Allied Command has prepared plans to stabilise the position in New Guinea,” said the Prime Minister (Mr J. Curtin) in a statement to Parliament in Canberra to-day. “I am not able to make any further announcement until a clearer picture is available to the command, but the latest information I have 'indicated that those plans of the command are being proceeded with.”

Mr Curtin added that he had been In close touch during the last 48 hours with General Douglas Mac Arthur and General Sir Thomas Blarney, who were in regular communication with the commander in New Guinea. Very senior officers had recently visited New Guinea. Opposing the suggestion that a Minister should be sent to New Guinea, Mr Curtin expressed complete confidence in military headquarters, which were doing everything possible hi the defence of New Guinea. “I have absolute confidence in the command,” he said. ‘‘They are highly competent and the forces they have at their disposal cannot in any way be rearranged by a Government Minister being in New Guinea. Our strength there is derived from this Commonwealth, and the task of the Government is to see that there is not too much absenteeism, and that every man and woman works to the utmost. No one must stay away from an essential job. I believe enlisted men properly equipped are far more valuable in fighting the enemy in New Guinea than a visit by a Minister.” Speaking at Sydney, the Minister of 'v-'A.the Navy (Mr N. J. Makin) expressed V ’ his confidence that New Guinea would ' be held. ‘‘l believe we have sufficient power there to resist any approaches the enemy may make towards our main centres.” The battle of New Guinea is a land battle which is only in its first phase, and so far Port Moresby is scarcely remotely imperilled. Observers are agreed that the gravest danger is that the Japanese push across the Owen Stanley ranges is part of a concerted move in which the enemy naval forces will play their part. , “It may be supposed that the enemy is strengthening his positions in the Islands of north-west Australia and that he is active in the area north from New Guinea to his Caroline and Marshall Island bases,” says the war correspondent of the '‘Sydney Morning Herald.” ‘‘A two-pronged sea thrust to Port Moresby from east and west has long been recognised as a likely method of attack. The western drive would be based on Amboina and Timor, while the eastern drive would be launched ‘from Rabaul with strength moved «outh from the mandated area.

“Military experts regard the Japanese feats in ousting the Australians from positions of great natural strength as extraordinary. Superior junglecraft and the use of equipment more suited to this type of warfare than our own are given as the reasons for the Japanese successes. “The enemy troops make better use of the art of camouflage. They moved with astdftishJng quietness through jungle regarded as Impenetrable, making wide sweeps off the beaten track to Infiltrate around the Australian positions. Enemy snipers waited with endless patience to get shofs at Australian patrols, but the groundwork of the Japanese success was his mastery of the supply problem. “In warfare of constant movement in spite of great difficulties of terrain, the enemy’s forward troops have always been kept adequately supplied with food and ammunition. It is also evident that the enemy has continually leapfrogged fresh troops into action from strong reserves. “While the distance from Efogi to Port Moresby by trail is 53 miles, men acquainted with the territory say its saw-tooth nature will involve the Japanese in 100 miles of foot travel if they are going to reach the port by its back-door entrance. Even should the enemy succeed in gaining the flat country 25 miles from Port Moresby, experts claim he will be unable to pour a major attacking force over the Owen Stanley ranges and supply them from the Kokoda side. They believe the Japanese can never succeed in bringing medium artillery over the mountains. With machine-guns and mortars as their heaviest equipment, they could not challenge our main Papuan defences. “The possibility that artillery weapons and even light tanks could be dropped to the enemy from transport aircraft cannot be pverlooked, although the present south-west Pacific air situation would have shown a sudden startling deterioration before this would be possible, However, the threat to Port Moresby from the present battle remains remote. The greatest cause of concern is in the fresh evidence of the unflinching determination of the Japanese to continue their south Pacific drive coupled with the distinct possibility that the enemy has a play in his hand that has not yet been revealed."