YEAR REVIEWED

Evening Post, Volume CXXXV, Issue 65, 18 March 1943, Page 3

YEAR REVIEWED

WAR IN SOUTH PACIFIC

GEN. MAC ARTHUR'S STRATEGY

(By Telegraph—-Press Association—Copyright.) (Special Australian Correspondent.) (Rec. 1 p.m.) SYDNEY, Mar. 18.. .

General Douglas Mac Arthur on Wednesday met war correspondents on the first anniversary of His arrival in Australia from the Philippines.. In an interview' which lasted two hours he discussed the main events of the year in the southern Pacific. The minute detail'of. his review of the' Pacific war answered in , advance a barrage of planned Press questions. General Mac Arthur praised the work of the war correspondents, in this area and told them that no brake would be applied to criticism except where, it was based: on. false premises or incom-i plete . information. After the corres-f pondents were in possession of all the facts* no attempts would be made to shade, or dictate' their' opinions. He had given out Press reports almost as fast as :news was received •,,from the' front line; ' The correspondents were impressed with the quiet confidence with which General Mac Arthur spoke of the Allies^ ability to maintain a successful hold; ingi War- in this theatre. However, he made it clear* that big problems lay ahead. . "Australia's war strategy was drastically revised after General MacArthur took * command of the Southwest Pacific front," says the Sydney "Daily Telegraph" correspondent. "Our defence 4>la*n then conceived that the islands'to the north would be lost and that jNorth Queensland- and Darwin would be overrun- Provision had. been made- for organised resistance behind a line drawn , west from Brisbane' General Ma'cArthur's,. considered conception of this strategy was that it was defeatist and fatal to Australia's safety; He.chapged the strategic conception with.the basic thought that the battle for- Australia -, would be ; settled: in the littqfal; islands to the north,: north-east; arid- north-west. ,The: new strategy was to make; these -islands the battleground t—win, lose, or. draw." ..-..* ' 7

| repulse; of the/.Japanese.. ; The Ijajptah^e- have sbeeri 'repulsed in fiVe major actions .in • the ; south-west Pacific? since the 'development of Geiieral.MacAfthur's rie^. strategy,, in which air' power' h^s, played, a vital part. '- .Actions ; wete. fought, in the Coral"Sea, at .Milhe.'Bay. at Buna and Goriai - arid 7m the B.isrnarck Sea.„ The Allied success' in gaining ■ command of the * aiiv contributed*, most importantly to the: enemy-reverses. It is now revealed that captured Japanese documents, disclosed that the enemy planned to take the Allies main base iii .New ■ Guinea, ,Port Moresby, with a, force of \^2o ,transports. It is also admitted that the Allied, strategy conceived the occupation of the, Buna area, -bi^t Vtijat: lack ■of air. power at the*.time;;prevented the- Allies from beating'the Japanese to. this .base. As the, enemy -later discovered; strong air powei** .inessential, -to...the, maintenance of.any CTOuhd iristallation's. ; "Our air, strength was. then so weak that we had.nq,chance of stopping.the Japanese landing at Buiia," declares the "Daily,, Telegraph" writer. "Our bohibey forces today could knock out in a matter "'of. hours a convoy of the size that w*erit into BUna. The Japanese -also , erred', in' building ,'up', air strength 'at Buna' ' without adequate warning facilities., They lost more thari 100 planes on the ground because of this defect.".; .•.." •.. ■ .-• : ,: The : ultimate stages of the . Papuan canipaigti,, in * which- General" MacAfthur. employed air transport on. a mass Scale to move trboj.s and equip: merit; ; must figure ' among classic examples of the changing art- of war; •However; this reverse, together with those subsequently Inflicted. upon ' the Japanese, has1 hot, * prevented enemy encroachment in other areas,? particularly *to - the' north of Australia. • Nevertheless, General. Mac Arthur has had the maih part.: in keeping Australia mr violate, .and' in establishing . Valuable bases for _the_ eventual .development of an. Allied^ offensive. _. , : , ... .*, ; CHANGES IN THE GENERAL.' The war. correspondents, who last met General Mac Arthur about six months ago, rioted many . personal changes. One writer' described him as "slightly heavier and certainly far more jovial 'and informal." At the interview General Mac Arthur wore a leather air .force jerkin, a gift from members of, his air command before he, went to,, New Guinea to direct the Papuan campaign. Formerly a cigarsmoker, he was sriioking a heavy pipe. He'spoke with deliberate matter-of-factness, and made no attempt at dramatic effect. A restless; and inveterate room-pacer, General Mac Arthur's familiar gestures and mannerisms were on this occasion less in . evidence than formerly. ■'■ ■ X" .