Nelson Evening Mail WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 15, 1941 PACIFIC DEFENCE

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 76, 15 October 1941, Page 4

Nelson Evening Mail WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 15, 1941 PACIFIC DEFENCE

♦ i J NEW ZEALAND already knows in 1 j broad outline the role she would 1 ! have to assume should war come * to the Pacific. The visit of Sir 1 ! Robert Brooke-Popham, British Com- * : mander-in-Chief, Far East, will pro- 1 j vide an opportunity for revising any | ; Pacific plan now in being and bring- 1 ; ing it up to date. Australians talk * freely about their frontier having [ moved to Singapore, where a portion 1 of their forces are stationed. Some time ago our Prime Minister (Mr J i Fraser) told us that the Dominion’s ' ! frontier was in Fiji, meaning of 1 ! course that we should get into the *• I habit of projecting our notions bej yond our own coastline when think- * j ing of home defence. Between us and s j the Commonwealth there is an e understanding that each country will s be responsible for certain sectors of the Pacific, running from New Zea- r land, taking in the island groups to t the north and east, and leading r through the Malay Archipelago to 1 the bastion of Singapore, which is the " I pivot on which Empire defence in f this ocean swings. Both New Zea- 1 land and Australia have undertaken f to garrison defined Pacific islands v which have strategic value. In that s belt of ocean stretching from the 1 Philippines in the west, through * Guam, Wake Island and Hawaii, to £ the Pacific coast of America, the United States is the dominant Power. Whether there is any co-ordinated plan between the United States and Britain for joint action in the Pacific is of course not known, but it is certain that, if war comes to the Pacific, i the Empire countries there will have to depend mainly on their own fighting power to defend themselves, e combined with the aid of the British % Navy and such air units as are ' stationed at various places. u It is on the co-ordination of this \ plan of defence that the British c . Commander-in-Chief has been busily 1 engaged since he was appointed. c Most of his work has so far centred j I round the hub of defence, Singapore, and Burma. Now he is coining to have a look at the outer rim. His visit should give us and Australia a much more realistic idea of our responsibilities and ensure that we c stand ready for anything the future ( may hold. There does not appear e to be much danger of an immediate I flare-up. On the other hand the situation in the Far East may shape i itself differently from what has been c assumed in the past consequent on ( the outcome of the big issues now being decided on the Eastern Front. i Talks between Japan and the [ United States seem to have almost broken down. Some competent • observers have maintained all along ! that they never had much chance of i succeeding. Since her occupation of < Indo-China, Japan has stripped that country of practically all that is of i use to her. If she took another step and moved against Thailand there is little doubt what the reaction would be in London. What it would , be in Washington is for the United ;

j States to say. but, coming nearer ! home, what would it. be in Canberra 1 and Wellington and in what roles 1 would our defence forces (lien be east? A similar question could be posed supposing a move was made against the Netherlands East Indies, territory belonging to an ally and fundamental to supply in the Pacific. But a fresh issue now obtrudes ! on the Far Eastern scene—at least if not completely new it lias become much more topical. Japan seems ready to play the jackal. She is hoping for a Russian collapse when she might be able to rush over her Asiatic border to gain spoils which a further drive south might not yield. Moreover, Japan is nettled at the stream of supplies passing almost under her nose from the United States through Vladivostok to Russia. In this of course Germany is abetting her. That needs always to be borne in mind when speculating about what Japan may do. In this vision of loot instead of or in addition to that in south-east Asia there are many pre-conditions yet to be fulfilled. Even if Hitler gained his objectives in Europe it does not mean that the Soviet would be rendered vulnerable in Asia. But if Japan moved against Russia in Asia then she would be attacking an ally of ours to whom we have promised all possible support. What then would be the reactions in London. Washington. Canberra and Wellington? War with Japan, which we have been accustomed to visualise as arriving through the south-east Asian gate, if it comes at all, could well arise from aggression in Siberia. This possibility must be of more significance than formerly in the calculations of those who mould plans for combined defence in the Pacific.