AMERICAN PREPAREDNESS

Evening Star, Issue 22893, 26 February 1938, Page 27

AMERICAN PREPAREDNESS

NAVAL AND AIR FRIGES HAWAII AS PACIFIC GIBRALTAR [From Our Correspondent.] SAN FRANCISCO, February 1. Following the Panay incident, there has been much talk in the united Sta ;ss of war preparations, or, at least, strengthening of the country s defences botn on tlie mainland and in island possessions. Stories have been printed showing that there is every intention of making Hawaii the Gibraltar of the Pacific, but what has given Uncle Sam the greatest confidence is the remarkable performance accomplished by 18 huge bombing planes carrying 127 officers and men from San Diego to Honolulu, a distance of 2.570 miles, in the splendid time of 20 hours and 12 minutes, thereby establishing a new record for mass-flight for such a large squadron of aircraft. New Y r ork~has been full of with no aggressor named. “Wo “must be ready to light at any time, Rear-Admiral C. H. Woodward told the annual convention of the New York National Guard Association. “ If war comes to-morrow, we do not feel certain we could properly equip more than 300,000 men,” asserted Assistant Secretary of War Louis Johnson in. revealing that mobilisation day would find the nation short of war materials. Mr Johnson disclosed details of _ a plan to educate industry in production of war materials. Through a Bill pending in the Washington Congress, small orders for war materials will be given to various manufacturers that they may gain practical experience for tho day when and if that experience should be needed. _ “ The growing sentiment throughout/ the land in support of a larger navy is proof that American citizens are beginning to awaken to the realisation that pacifism is futile and that we cannot feel any more secure from an aggressive, covetous, and ambitious potential enemy unless we have a strong line of defence.” From Honolulu have come some data relative to the strengthening of the defences in the mid-Pacific, the statement being made that the United States army and navy are rapidly completing a 20-year programme designed to make Hawaii, the “ Gibraltar of the Pacific,” an impregnable military outpost, a survey disclosed in Honolulu. Assignment of new, ultra-modern fighting aircraft and naval forces to the islands, combined with _ a recordbreaking expenditure of military appropriations which last year reached 33,000,000 doljars, indicated Hawaii is intended to become a compact insular arsenal. , , By coincidence, the general defence programme in Hawaii ha's been speeded to tho highest point since the outbreak of the Sino-Japaneso conflict. Hawaii is regarded by the military authorities as the United States’s greatest buffer against Asiatic disturbances, but there have been no signs that-, the war in China has prompted the new bursts of military activity there, says this statement. . f ..AIR ARM STRESSED. .« - It is believed in Honolulu that- prolongation of the Sino-Japanese conflict will inevitably force the strengthening of Pearl Harbour, which at present has a comparatively small permanent force, despite popular belief to tho contrary. Current emphasis on the development of air defences is _ pointed out. The navy’s recent mass flight of the 18 planes from San Diego to Honolulu was reganfed as a significant test of aerial defence co-operation between Hawaii and the mainland. j It was stated that the army’s ultimate goal is a modern aircraft armada of 250 planes. By the end of 1938 it is estimated that 225 fighting ships will be in active service in the Hawaiian Islands. It was pointed out that the arrival of the 18 bombing planes .from California had brought the bomber complement to 42. The report stated that 24 additional bombers were expected to arrive there before next winter, many of them replacing obsolete and inefficient craft. The army’s thirty-first bombing squadron, comprising 13 planes, and additional naval air forces, were scheduled for, transfer to Hawaii. Complementing new assignments of fighting aeroplanes was the development of new air port and fighting base projects, headed by construction of the army’s 18.000,000-dollars Hickam Field. Already bids have been awarded for 2,884,976 dollars in work projects at Hickam. The air port prohahlv will he ready for full-time use before 1940, the report concluded.