FRENCH ISLANDS

Grey River Argus, 28 April 1942, Page 5

FRENCH ISLANDS

TAKEN FOR DURATOIN In South Pacific BY U.S.A. FORCES. LAust. & N.Z. Cable Assn.l (Rec. 8.35). NEW YORK, April 26. The “New York Times,” in a leading article, said: “The announcement of the arrival of the American troops in New' Caledonia may be accepted as a notice to the Laval Government that the United States has assumed the military contAfl of the French Possessions of the South Pacific for the duration of the war. New' Caledonia', and also its surrounding Archipelagos, the New Hebrides Islands and the Loyalty Group are essential bastions lor protecting our supply route to Australia. Noumea is an equal distance from Australia and from the Japanese extension in the Solomon Islands. Further enemy expansion southward is nbw blocked by our forces. The flank of our Pacific defence is effectively guarded, while the waterway into Torres Strait and the whole north coast o£ Australia will be commanded by our fliers. But the time to regard the Southwest Pacific as an area of defence is rapidly passing. The strength of the United Nations on the Australian Continent has enormously increased in the last six weeks. Rising air power has halted 'the Japanese at New Guinea. It has hampered them in their stronghold in Rabaul, in New Britain. The announcement of the arrival of the American troops in New Caledonia is doubtless a euphemism for the consolidation of our forces there. These certainly include war planes, which we may soon expect to see exerting pressure against precarious enemy holdings to the northward. When General MacArthur decides that the moment has come for an all-’out offensive, New Caledonia, as well as Australia, will be a 1 base from which to strike.

FRENCH PROTEST. LONDON, April 26. The Vichy News Agency says that the Government has instructed M Henri Haye to protest to the United States Government against the landing of American troops in New Caledonia. An official Note states that, if French rebels in September, 1940, seized New Caledonia, that fact does’ not justify the landing of American troops there. Neither Genera! de Gaulle nor his representatives are in any way qualified to speak on behalf of France.