GENERAL ATTACK

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 20864, 17 August 1942, Page 3

GENERAL ATTACK

allies ready soon IMMENSE PRODUCTION SIR E. PAGE’S SURVEY (Special Australian Correspondent.) (10 a.m.) SYDNEY, Aug. 17. “The Allies should soon be able to attack the heart and head of the enemy,” said the Australian envoy tc Britain and the United States, Sir Earle Page, on his return here. There was no thought in England and America that the war could be lost. “I have always believed that it would take about four years for the Allies to get into their stride,” he continued, “but the situation was now becoming very different. Increased Allied production is i a revelation. Britain is now launching ships within 30 days of the keel being laid and they are ready for service eight days afterwards. We undoubtedly are' beating the submarine menace in the western Atlantic. The co-operation of sea and air forces is sweeping the seas of submarines and, in time, this will be true of the eastern Atlantic.” Britain had already opened a second front by massed bomber raids on Germany. Ships, planes and tanks were being destroyed before they could be used against the Russians. The land front would come, but to open one prematurely would invite disaster. “The British people thoroughly understood the position in this theatre,” said Sir Earle Page. “When our plight looked desperate, they even pulled guns out of their emplacements to send them to us.” Commenting on the Solomons battle Sir Earle Page said that effective action against the Japanese now would be three .times as valuable as action next year. Sir Earle Page has resigned his post as special envoy on account oi ill-health.