FIGHTING MORALE HELPED

Dominion, Volume 36, Issue 139, 9 March 1943, Page 5

FIGHTING MORALE HELPED

SYDNEY, March 8. A "eneral headquarters spokesman declares that the prime reason for the victory in the Bismarck Sen was the great fighting morale which had been built up in the Allied air forces. Without capacity in execution the most brilliant plan could not hope to succeed, he said. By coincidence the two latest Japanese convoys smashed while on the way to Lae were discovered by the same plane crew. Even more strange, the officers of this crew when they found the second convoy on March 1, were flying together for the first time since the mission on which they discovered the first convoy on January 6. The airmen were Lieutenants Walter Higgins (Texas), Lyle Schoelnaur (Nebraska), George Selmer (Indiana), and Robert Pavious (New York State). “It was a sweet revenge to be abie to play a big part in this show, because we paid for our previous success by being shot down by Zeros guarding the ships,” said Lieutenant Higgins. ’We crash landed and were picked up two days later.” The luckiest airman in the southern Pacific is Lieutenant James Dieffender (West Virginia), a Fortress pilot who has lost six engines iu his last eight missions. During the convoy battle he also had au instrument panel smashed ,by bullets from a Zero, and flew 500 miles with his tail elevators torn off. General MacArthur has received congratulatory messages from the leaders of United Nations in all parts of the world. Service chiefs who offered congratulations include Generals Wavell and Marshall. Admirals King. Nimitz, and Halsey.