AUSTRALIAN VALOUR

Evening Post, Volume CXXXIV, Issue 143, 14 December 1942, Page 5

AUSTRALIAN VALOUR

AMERICAN TRIBUTE

. NEW YORK, December 12. The Chicago "Tribune," in an editorial, says that the Australians have long been noted for valour, s but have never fought so well as in the present New Guinea campaign. Air dominance is an important factor, but fighting spirit is more important. The outstanding contribution which Australia has thus far made in the war has been the fighting spirit in New Guinea. The Japanese fancied themselves masters of jungle fighting, but today know they have met their masters.

The "New York Post's" correspondent, Edward Hunter, says that the temptation is almost overwhelming to refer to Japan's attempt to hold Buna as suicidal, but evidence is accumulating that Japan's defence is part of a far-seeing strategy to prolong the war till it becomes a stalemate if outright victory is unattainable. The Japanese always have looked far ahead in strategy. We can be sure they are deeply impressed with the cost of the New Guinea campaign, both to themselves and the United Nations. They are studying Guadalcanal where, after months, the United States holds only a few miles. Neither Buna and Gona nor Guadalcanal is as heavily fortified as scores of Japanese bases in the Carolines and Marshalls, the capture of which would be costly and take even longer than Buna. Thus it is perfectly logical for Japan to assume, that she can lose those islands and consider each loss a guarantee that she will not lose the war. She is banking on the belief that cost and the time factor will wear down patience and force the United States to accept a makeshift peace. This would be tantamount to an Axis victory and would give the Japanese breathing space to strike again.