SMALL PROSPECT

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 20858, 10 August 1942, Page 5

SMALL PROSPECT

MORE ALLIED TROOPS AUSTRALIAN FRONT GOVERNMENT’S VIEW (By Telegraph—Press Assn. —Copyright.) (Special Australian Correspondent.) (2 p.m.) SYDNEY, Aug. 8. The Australian Government realises that it cannot hope for additional substantial reinforcements. General MacArthur must defend the Allied possessions in the south-west Pacific and launch any offensive he has planned with the forces now at his disposal. This is the generally accepted view following the statement by the Prime Minister, Mr. J. Curtin. “The views on the way the facts about the outside assistance received are welcome,” says the Daily Telegraph in a leader. “We will not bluff ourselves any more.” The Sydney Morning Herald also stresses that Australia must rely on her own efforts for salvation. The admitted Japanese occupation of Teniniber, Kei and Aru islands is gravely regarded. “This plainly increases the Japanese threat to northern Australia,” says the Herald. "The Japanese have thrown around the north an offensive screen in which the only chink of light for us is Port Moresby.” The enemy claims to have taken possession of these islands on July 31.