MAY BE DIMINISHED

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 2, 28 September 1943, Page 5

MAY BE DIMINISHED

MacArthur’s Command Area

NEW YORK, September 26. It is probable that within six months General MacArthur’s South-west Pacific Command will be reduced to the status of a garrison holding recaptured territories while drives from other directions aim at the East Indies and Philippines, writes Lewis Sebring in the New York “HeraldTribune.” The realization of this impending situation undoubtedly prompted General MacArthur’s statement which implied that his ideas on Pacific strategy would not govern future operations,. Mr. Sebring says that virtually the entire operational activity in General MacArthur's command is now concentrated north-eastward of Australia while the American forces are consolidating their positions in the Solomons.

Obviously all these forces must converge on New Britain, Bougainville, and New Ireland. The recently-created Central Pacific Command, under LieutenantGeneral R. Richardson, at Hawaii, gives a hint of where the land forces for the area north of New Guinea might come from. .. ... Mr. Sebring suggests that it might take considerable time for General MacArthur to clean up New Guinea. Beyond that is where the rub comes in. .He would like to push on to the Philippines, but it is conceivable that by that time plans would call for others to undertake this assignment. The “others” might be Admiral Mountbatten, moving eastward from India, or American naval forces moving westward through the Pacific. . In either case it seems almost certain that General MacArthur’s command will end at the Equator in the north and slightly .past the western tip of New Guinea in the west. How this will affect the continued use of Australia as a great Allied base remains a question, but with the South-west Pacific Command confined to these limits its use as such would seem to be virtually ended.

ATTACK ON BURMA Allied Plans Claimed Almost Complete (Received September 27, 9.10 p.m.) LONDON, September 27. Berlin radio, quoting Japanese reports from Shanghai, said that Admiral Mountbatten’s plans for a general attack against Burma are almost complete. “The war in East Asin was about to enter a new phase,” it said. “A strong battle-trained Japanese army is ready to meet offensive moves.”