The Grey River Argus MONDAY, March 16th, 1942. NEW PACIFIC STRATEGY.

Grey River Argus, 16 March 1942, Page 4

The Grey River Argus MONDAY, March 16th, 1942. NEW PACIFIC STRATEGY.

'While the publication of naval losses in the Java battle may appear the most sensational feature of the week-end war news, it is at the same time, confirmed that the magnitude of American reinforcements for the Pacific front is so great that coiild it be also published at present, the public would attach to it the greater importance. It was really the start of an Allied offensive which was responsible for the disappearance of thirteen war vessels on the Java coast. No. doubt the force under Admiral Helferich had been so located on the north Java coast that exit was cut off, the enemy having already control of the Sunda Strait. But previously it had been decided that battle should bp given, be the enemy fleet ever so much heavier, and battle certainly was given with the utmost determination. The material effects have not yet been ascertained, although eight Japanese warships are reported to have been either sunk or disabled; but the moral effect of the Allied offensive on the occasion will remain an example in the operations yet to be undertaken against Japan. The Battle of Java will be avenged. Meantime there is more evident than ever the necessity to co-ordinate Allied resistance, and a new strategy for the whole Pacific war theatre is now being devised amongst the, several Allied Governments, the decision to establish the Pacific War Council in Washington having at last been

evidently .taken. There is naturally a tendency for these interested Governments to study their own particular necessities first. Consequently the defence of India and the restoration of communications with China appear as if i distinct from, the defence of Australia and New Zealand. Looking at the situation, however, from the enemy’s standpoint, it is obvious that the Pacific war is all of a piece, and that if either on the Asiatic mainland or on the Australian mainland, resistance is successful, it must react against Japan on both fronts. Among distracting factors there is the question of unifying the Indians in the war effort, and if Sir S. Cripps’ mission is successful, as it should be, their co-operation would consolidate the efforts of the several hundreds of millions in both India and China in support of the icause of freedom. The success of the Russians in their winter offensive, while it has been continuous, cannot yet be assessed at full value, because the Germans, if they are thereby 'hampered in their Spring offen-

sive, will offer Japan no further moral backing whatever. Moreover, the chances of a new front being opened up in the Pacific against the enemy must then be very great, since the Japanese may be expected to include Eastern Siberia in their scheme of exploitation, and to be only awaiting a favourable opportunity in that direction. Nearer home, there is some significance in the making of an attack on the small islands off the northern tip of Cape York, only thirty miles from the Queensland coast, by enemy raiders, indicating an intention possibly to occupy these islands as stepping stones towards the mainland, /In that event, the enemy must count upon Hearing losses, because his air bases further away in New Britain are now coming in for severe raiding day after day. The Australian Prime Minister is proving himself a very capable spokesman; his latest broadcast, directly to the whole American nation, has made a deep impression. We in New Zealand must now- regard' ourselves as being circumstanced much more like Australia than any other belligerent, and be ready at any time to fight on our own shores against invasion. The authentic sign that the authorities are alert is the application of compulsion to Home Guard service, and the registration of older men also for the National Reserve. That New Zealand is on a war footing is a fact that some may not have fully realised up to the present, but the latest enactments will leave nobody in the slightest doubt for the future. The point which none may ignore is that the war continues to creep nearer and yet nearer, and that the enemy’s intention to occupy Australia implies an intention to neutralise New Zealand no less than the Commonwealth itself. The news that unexpectedly large American forces are participating and that the American Navy is now on the track of the enemy will no longer lead anybody to remain complacent in tile Dominion, but what it must do is to strengthen the national will in the growing struggle for Japan’s complete overthrow, and the restoration of the occupied territory to those people who have been despoiled. Incidentally the enemy shows one early shortcoming. He has caused it to be rumoured that there is a possibility of an armistice. Australia at once has given the answer and it will b!e acclaimed one hundred per cent, in New Zealand.