IS SOUTH PACIFIC CAMPAIGN WIDENING ?

Grey River Argus, 31 October 1942, Page 5

IS SOUTH PACIFIC CAMPAIGN WIDENING ?

ENEMY LESS CONFIDENT OF OUTCOME

AMERICANS IN NEED OF MORE REINFORCEMENTS

MacArthur’s Operations Going Well

On Guadalcanar JAP GUN POSITIONS BOMBED ENEMY TROOPS ATTACK AIRFIELD. WASHINGTON, Oct 29. The United States Navy-in a communique issued on Thursday detailed operations that took place on Guadalcanar Island, south-west Solomons on Tuesday', stating this news was only received on Thursday lhe report was as follows: On Tuesday United States aircraft from Guadalcanal’ bombed enemy gun positions westward of our airfield on the island. An anti-aircraft battery and an ammunition dump were destroyed. During the late forenoon, an enemy assault on our positions succeeding in piercing our lines. Army and Marine Corps troops successfully counter-attacked and our original positions were regained. Two additional enemy thrusts were repulsed. No report of any recent action by sea or of landing enemy reinforcements has been received. 30,000 Japs. ON GUADALCANAR. (Special to N.Z. Press Assn.) (Rec. 12.18.) SYDNEY, Oct. 30. The Japanese are believed now to have landed thirty tho'usilhd troops on Guadalcanar Island, .and to have there a superiority in tanks and in artillery, according to an American radio report. There are unconfirmed reports of fighting bv sea, bv land and by air there.

These' reports are 1 Some observers state.that “in informed Washington circles there is a note of quiet confidence.’’ Other observers declare that “Officially, Washington is non-commit-tal, but is grimily realistic about the battle.” ENEMY POSITIONS BOMBED WASHINGTON. Oct. 29. A Navy communique says: On Tuesday morning our aircraft from Guadalcanal' attacked enemy shore installations and aircraft moored at Rekata Bay. Fires were started and four seaplanes were destroyed on the water. Jap Naval Base RAIDED FROM AUSTRALIA (Special to N.Z. Press Assn.) (Rec. 12.18) SYDNEY, Oct. 30. The only fresh authenticated news of action in the Guadalcanar area comes from General -MacArthur’s headquarters. This is to the .effect that, on Thursday nio-ht,.Flying Fortresses from this command attacked the Japanese naval base at Buin, a direct hit being scored on an unidentified vessel, bombs straddling four other ships, hut the conditions prevented observation of the full results of the attack. All the Allied planes returned. Americans Awaken TO JAPANESE THREAT. (Special to N.Z. Press Assn.) (Rec. 9.50) SYDNEY, Oct. 3d. The battle for the Solomon Islands, which is costly, now seems to have fully awakened the United States to the magnitude of the Pacific war. An indication of the Americans heightened conception of the Japanese threat is a banner headline in the latest issue of the New York journal, “American.” The heading reads:— “This war will be won or lost m Pacific.” ~,, . The Sydney “Herald comments: “There is only one way in which the war in the Pacific could be lost —by a division among the Allies.’ Urging that the controversy should be stilled while the battle rages, the paper adds: “The strategy which ha's prec'pi'tated the Solomon Islands battle has been questioned, and doubts about its issue have been unduly prevalent. These misgivings do less than justice both to the- boldness of the United States’ Navy’s stroke at Japan’s flank in the South Pacific and to the results which have already been achieved.” NEW YORK. Oct. 29. The “New York Times” Honolulu correspondent says: The Solomons fighting is getting tougher all the time according to four Navy fighter pilots returning to the United States for more planes. They added: “We 'can hold if thev will keen sending in reinforcements The Marines are nlentv tough. We have the utmost confidence in them. They will hold. The Army had not planes capable or the high 'altitude required. We need more faster and better fighters.” A message from Pearl Harbour savs that everything depends on the Allies getting reinforcements to Guadalcanar quickly. A . Richard Turner, the American Associated Press Washington correspondent says a note of optimism is now distinctly - noticeable in the United States Navy Department. ‘*These men are in a position to know more of the facts than anyone else in Washington,” adds the correspondent.