COL. KNOX'S TOUR

Evening Post, Volume CXXXV, Issue 27, 2 February 1943, Page 3

COL. KNOX'S TOUR

AUSTRALIAN CRITICISM

POSSIBLE ENEMY

THRUSTS

(By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright.) (Special Australian Correspondent.) (Rec. 2.20 p.m.). SYDNEY, Feb. 2. In an editorial, "Two Fronts in the South Pacific," the "Sydney Morning Herald" deplores the fact that the 20,000 miles' air journey of the United States Naval Secretary, Colonel Knox, did not include a brief visit to Australia.

"While Colonel Knox's purpose," it says, "was to inspect the American bases of Admiral Halsey's South Pacific Command, it is a pity that he was unable to make direct contact with the Australian Government. Only last week Mr. Curtin was appealing to America for 'naval and air strength in this theatre adequate to the plans of the commander,' and Colonel Knox could have been informed at first hand of needs and hopes in the South-west Pacific. The buoyant tone of the colonel's statement does not suggest that the official misgivings lately expressed in Australia about the growth of Japanese power in the Southern Pacific are shared in the area which he toured. The contrast, indeed, is remarkable. Colonel Knox's tour and his comments following on the recent warnings of possible enemy thrusts towards Australia deepen the impression that a sharp dividing line is drawn between the South Pacific and the South-west Pacific areas.

"While emphasis is being laid in this zone on the Japanese concentrations, American commentators are examining the likelihood of Allied aggressive action m. the South Pacific. One effect of all this mystification must be to keep the Japanese guessing as to where and when the Allies, as their plans mature, intend to deliver their main offensive blows."