AMERICAN NAVY

Grey River Argus, 13 December 1943, Page 5

AMERICAN NAVY

Prepares to Invade Marshalls

(Rec. 8.20.) WASHINGTON, Dec. 11

The United States Navy, in a communique, states: Liberator bombers dropped fifteen tons of bombs on the Mili ■ Atoll, in the Marshall Islands, on Thursday. The bombers were attacked by approximately 20 Zeros. Four Zeros were shot down. Three were probably destroyed. One was damaged. The American bombers suffered only slight material dam- . <e, with a few men wounded. Two of the Zeros dropped six aerial bombs at the Liberators without results. (Rec 110.) NEW YORK, Dec. 12. The “New York Times’s” Washington correspondent says: Devastating attacks bv powerful American Naval task forces presage an early invasion of the Marshall Islands. The Navy and Army authorities, however, take an extremely sober view of the task of winning the Marshall Islands. They point out it would be the first invasion of what might be called Japanese soil.. The Americans’ great strategical advantage lies in their power of offensive for over a year. Experts point out that the Japanese 'have scores of bases to defend, and that they must keep their forces divided, whereas the Americans are free to concentrate their forces overwhelmingly against any chosen objective. Naval circles in Washington are exultant at the manner in which Admiral Nimitz’s surface units ana carrier-based 'planes have been whittling down the Japanese in the Central Pacific. At the same time, certain Washington authorities refuse to accept the theory of Japan, being at bay. For example, the War Department’s official line apparently depicts a strong central Japan, which is heavily protected bv interlocking bases, and interior lines of supply. However, it is impossible to determine how much of this line is actual •strateeic conviction, and how much is tempered ’by a psychological belief that the American public should expect the worst in the Pacific.