British Task Force Joins U.S. Fleet

Press, Volume LXXXI, Issue 24621, 18 July 1945, Page 7

British Task Force Joins U.S. Fleet

1500 CARRIER PLANES STRIKE TOKYO AREA (N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) (Rec. 11.15 p.m.) GUAM, July 17. • For the first time the British Pacific Fleet has joined the United States Pacific Fleet in the assault on Japan. Admiral G. W. Nimitz, Allied Naval Commander-in-Chief in the Pacific, has announced that the United States 3rd Fleet, augmented by a British task force, launched attacks in great strength against the Tokyo area to-day. Since dawn about 1500 carrier-borne aircraft have been over the area* The combined force is stated to be the most powerful naval fleet ever seen in the Pacific. The British ships include the 35,000-ton battleship King George V, formerly flagship of the Home Fleet, the aircraft-carrier Formidable, the cruisers Black Prince and Newfoundland, and five destroyers, one of which is an Australian ship. Admiral W. F. Halsey is directing the operations. Vice-Admiral Sir Bernard Rawlings is in tactical command of the British ships, and Redr-Admiral Sir Philip Vian is in command of the carrier force. "The naval shelling of the Japanese homeland has opened {he pre-invasion phase of the war," said Admiral Nimitz in a broadcast. "In this phase we rely on two principal strategies. First is the ever-tightening blockade of the home islands, and second js the destruction by shelling and bombing of every industry and resource contributing to Japait's ability to iriake war. "Our battleships' 16-inch guns, in opening fire on industrial targets in Honshu and Hokkaido, also opened an era in frhich we dominate the air and sea approaches to Japan. Conversely, the action shows the desperate defensive position in tvhich the Japanese find themselves. We have paralysed the Japanese navy's will and ability to cdftie out arid fight. We toust now take a series of certain and progressive steps until the Japanese people's will and ability to resist are broken."

Vice-Admiral D. E. Barbey. commander of the United States 7th Amphibious Force, hinted that the Americans mr-y not wait for the end of the typhoon season to invade China or Japan. Discussing the invasion prospects. Vice-Admiral Barbey said: “It will take more than a big wind to stop us. Landings in Japan and China are equal possibilities, and an invasion force could be ready within from 30 to 90 days, depending on the size of the *°Reinterating his prediction that Jarrn can be forced to surrender within'a year. Vice-Admiral Brrbey declared that her leaders must make a decision. Jaoan could follow the German example and see her cities destroyed, or she could be realistic and save something for the future. If the Japrnese kept on fighting, then whdt happened to German cities and factories would seem like peaceful prosperity and perfect order by companion.

STARVING JAPANESE IN LUZON FRICTION BETWEEN ARMY AND NAVY ALLEGED (Rec. 5.5 p.m.) MANILA, July 17. Filipino troops have found an ill-clad and starving Japanese naval labour force north of Infahta, in Luzon, and the bodies of more than 400 who had perished from starvation and disease. Lieutenant-Colonel Jaime Manzano said that nearby were Japanese troops who were well fed and clothed. This was more evidence of the apparent unfriendliness between the Japanese Army and Navy.

RAIDS ON JAPAN AND CHINA (N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) (Rec. 11.30) WASHINGTON, July 16. A communique from Admiral Nimitz's headquarters says:— "Corsairs rocketed and strafed installations on the Kushira airfield in Southern Kyushu, destroying barra-cks buildings, strafed parked aircraft, and caused an explosion in a powerhouse on Tanega Island. In sweeps against shipping in the Shanghai area Privateers set on fire ships and docks in the Whangpoo river and an oil plant concentration near Shanghai." JAPANESE FORESEE DEFEAT NEWSPAPER CRITICISES WAR POLICY (Rec. 5.5 p.m.) NEW YORK, July 16. The Tokyo radio quoted the newspaper "Yomuiri Hochi" as stating: "Japan will be compelled to surrender unless the war leaders take a realistic view of the world situation and abandon hopes of victory through a split among the United Nations, which is merely a political superstition akin to Germany's fatal blunder of plunging into a two-front war." Replying to a recent article by Admiral W. F. Halsey, who advocated the elimination of the Japanese military clique and Shintoism, the "Nippon Times" says: "The effacement of Shintoism means the effacement of the Japanese race, and that, is what Americans like Admiral Halsey are threatening."