AERIAL KNOCK-OUT

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 21809, 4 September 1945, Page 3

AERIAL KNOCK-OUT

BIG LOSSES AVERTED BATTLES INSIDE JAPAN BOMB HAVOC IN CITIES (10.30 a.m.) NEW YORK, Seot. 3. “If Japan had not been knocked out of the war by air-power and atomic bombs, the ridges and valleys we saw in a Super-Fortress flight over Honshu would have been the scene of the Pacific’s bloodiest ‘ and most costly battles,” says the New York Times’ correspondent in Yokohama. “Japan is criss-crossed by hundreds of streams and canals, most of them running through narrow valleys between deep, forbidding mountains or across narrow coastal flats. The roads leading to key objectives are narrow and winding and the .entire island, except for the coastal area, is unsuitable for the extensive use of tanks, recalling Okinawa. “After a flight over the bombed cities, we concluded that the 20th Air Force estimated the damage conservatively. It is estimated that in some of the main cities over 2,000,000 were left homeless or dead as a result of 14 raids. We certainly saw few people moving in the streets.” The former American Ambassador to Tokio, Mr. Joseph Grew, declared that he was “exceedingly happy” that the Allied leaders had heeded his plea to safeguard Emperor Hirohito. Mr. Grew added that only through the Emperor could the command to lay down arms have been given and followed through. The quick obedience of the Japanese war leaders had saved thousands of American lives.