U.S. AIR FORCE

Grey River Argus, 20 March 1942, Page 5

U.S. AIR FORCE

' JOINING UP IN AUSTRALIA. i COMMANDER’S STATEMENT. MELBOURNE, March 19. The United States air forces in Australia will 1 be fused with the j' R.A.A.F. into a single striking force, under unified command. All resources .of men and equipment will be pooled, and the policy of supplying the whole force with American ! machines of the latest and best types lias been recommended to achieve the maximum of standardisation. This was announced by Lieut.® General George H. Brett, Chief of’ i the Air Forces in the South-west Pacific, and peputy Supreme Commander of ad forces in that area. The combined air force will thus ue under the same control as the Army. Lieut.-General Brett, who was giving his first Press conference, revealed that, he spent, a week in Australia in January, before assuming comf mand of the air forces in Java. “The ; foundations were laid then for a heir of a . good fighting air force The building up of an air force in new country with unfamiliar terrain and different weather-flying conditions, is a big job. but air strength is coming, and our job is to keep it rolling 'without interruption. While we are laying plans for future developments we are taking what we have to-dav. and using it to the maximum. We are matching the Japanese areas to the north, praying for a chance to have a swat at them. At the same time, our men are putting in invaluable operational and combat

training. We are supplying Australians with aircraft as rapidly as we can. We have just given them a lot.” Asked how co-operation with the it.A.A.F. was developing, Lieut.General Brett held up two fingers together. ‘‘The Australians and the Americans are just like that,” he de‘‘We are planning to divide Australia into operational areas. Squadrons .and stations will operate as national units to simplify questions of service routine, rations, etc. In the larger organisation we will work as one. We want to make the best possible use of the men and equipment at our disposal; The way to do that is by pooling.* Although he recently held military commands. Lieut.-General Brett pointed out that “the Air Force has been his baby for 27 years.” Keen, direct and practical in his approach, to everv question fired at him, his answers carried a ring of confidence, which became pride when he talked about his “boys.” Although careful not to under-estimate the Japanese. Lieut.-General Brett believes that man for man and plane for plane, with America’s latest wo 1 have the edge on them. "Give me 100 fighters and give the Japs. 200, and we will lick them any time.” “In Java, it was impossible to carry out the first principle of air warfare, which is never to lose « plane on the ground. Whatever is coming over, it is aiiways policy to 1 get them into the air, and give them a chance. In Australia, we are preparing to put into effect the English policy of dispersal. There are three things we have known for _ a long time about, air defence of civilian population. You must have an efficient aircraft warning service, good anti-aircraft batteries, and fighter coverage. With these you can get any group of people to work anywhere at any time, To maintain your hold on an area, you must have these.”

“Australia is getting a lot of antiaircraft equipment rather rapidly. I understand that England has supplied o.uite a bit.”

Lieut.-General Brett was surprised when asked whether he thought we could hold. Australia. “Hold it,” he answered. “I haven’t lost any .of mv faith in Australians, so I don’t even consider the question. You may have to take a drubbing, but England has taken a drubbing, and nobody has taken England yet.”