The Northern Advocate “NORTHLAND FIRST” Registered for transmission through the post as a Newspaper MONDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 1942. Naval Command In Anzac Zone

Northern Advocate, 9 February 1942, Page 2

The Northern Advocate “NORTHLAND FIRST” Registered for transmission through the post as a Newspaper MONDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 1942. Naval Command In Anzac Zone

SN his speech after his return from the United States, Mr. Churchill foreshadowed the adoption of a policy which would allocate to Britain and America specific spheres of naval responsibility in the Far East and south-west Pacific. He indicated that the United States’ Navy would defend what is now known as the Anzac ocean theatre of war—the waters which intimately concern the defence of Australia and New Zealand—as well as the Netherlands East Indies and the important territories adjacent thereto. The British Navy would be responsible for the defence of the Indian Ocean and further west. Mr. Churchill said that though the navies of Britain and the United States, and that of the Netherlands East Indies, would each have its own particular task, the whole naval operations of the Allies would be co-ordinated with the object of producing maximum efficiency and effect. News liberated during the week-end reveals that the policy voiced by Mr. Churchill has been adopted, for we are told that Vice-Admiral Leary, of the United States Navy, has been appointed Commander of the Anzac Forces. This means that he will control the combined naval forces in the waters in which Australia and New Zealand are especially concerned. The new arrangement means that the United States’ Navy will undertake the task of guarding the Anzac zone, the Australian and New Zealand ships which fly the White Ensign in those waters forming portion of the combined fleet. The need for unified naval action under a single command is beyond question, and the appointment of an American admiral as commander will be welcomed, for it indicates, as Mr. Fraser has said, the co-operation of the nations engaged in the struggle against Japan and their determination to do everything in their power to throw off the aggressor. The new arrangement, which is logically sound, is in line with the statement made by the Australian Prime Minister when he declared that Australia looked to the United States for naval defence, and it will reassure New Zealanders that their country will not be left open to invasion on a large scale. The combination and co-operation of the British and American navies in the Battle of the Atlantic has proved of immense value to the allied cause, the ships of each nation beingused where they were of greatest use. The same principle is evidently being applied to the Anzac zone, and there is little doubt that it will achieve the purpose of allowing the British and United States’ Navies to be used in theatres where they can most conveniently and most usefully be employed against an enemy, who, if he is to deal with his adversaries effectively, will be obliged to divide his forces, which is urgently desired by the Allies.

The First Lord of the Admiralty, Mr. A. V. Alexander, emphasised the importance of the new policy when opening Warship Week at Halifax, in Yorkshire. He said that the Royal Navy had again and again stood between Britain and defeat since May, 1940, and in doing so, had endured periods of great stress and strain. That the Navy had emerged from, those periods, when it was almost alone at sea, had been due to the gallantry and devotion to duty of the officers and men of the fleet, to the conspicuous service of the merchant navy and to the vast amount of work turned out from the shipyards. It is well that the British public should be reminded of these things. It should also be realised, as Mr. Alexander pointed out, that the entry of the Japanese navy on the side of the dictators had resulted in a further period of strain, “but the collaboration of the two fleets under the plans concerted by Mr. Churchill aiid President Roosevelt will work firmly and relentlessly for the restoration of Allied sea-power in Far Eastern waters, the advent of which can only result in the total defeat of Japan.” The announcement made during the weekend is proof that the new plan is being put into operation. In view of this development, it is reasonable to hope that the help which has been promised to the defenders of the south-west Pacific, and for which the defenders of Singapore and the Philippines are fighting delaying actions against the Japanese, are already well on their way. The Stars and Stripes, in combination with the White Ensign, will be to the Allies a welcome sight on the waters of the Anzac zone, and a source of discomfort to the Japanese.