Turning Point Of Pacific War

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31576, 13 January 1968, Page 11

Turning Point Of Pacific War

(Specially written (or "The Press" by

KENNETH ANTHONY)

When war broke out in thi Pacific with the attack pi Pearl Harbour in 1941, th( Japanese at first swept al before them. In quick succes sion, Hong Kong, Malaya, th( Philippines, the Netherlands East Indies, and most oi Burma fell to the invaders. But early in 1942 they re ceived their first naval set backs, and in August of that year came the turning point in the war—the beginning of the great battle for Guadalcanal in the British Solomon Islands. The key point of the campaign was Henderson Field, an airfield which the Japanese had just constructed. The Americans captured it intact in their first counter-offensive, and in an attempt to oust them the Japanese high com-

mand diverted large forces from New Guinea. The threat to Australia was over. Bitter fighting went on for nearly six months, and at one stage 20,000 Japanese faced 15,000 Americans. But in the end the Japanese were forced to withdraw. They had suffered 30,000 casualties; but more important, the myth of their invincibility had been shattered. I With the end of the Guadalcanal campaign the initiative passed to the Allies, and thereafter the Japanese power in South-East Asia steadily declined. Nowadays the Solomon Island; are a remote and peaceful place, rarely in the news. But when two special stamps went on sale in the capital of Honiara on Guadalcanal on August 28, 1967, the islanders had a reminder of that time when their island suddenly and briefly found itself thrust into the forefront of world history. The stamps mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Guadalcanal campaign, and the 8c value, illustrated here, shows the airfield around which the battle raged. From the sea, seen in the background, Japanese warships on one occasion endeavoured to bombard the Americans into submission. Henderson Field was allowed to fall into disuse after the war, but was subsequently restored and reopened as a civil airport. A picture of it on an 8d stamp issued in 1956, showing the new control tower and a modern airliner coming in to land, makes an interesting contrast with the war-time scene depicted on the new stamp.