AUSTRALIAN FRONT

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 77, 10 August 1942, Page 2

AUSTRALIAN FRONT

ALLEGED MISUNDERSTANDINGS COMMENT BY U.S. NEWSPAPER New York, August. 7. Australian Press reactions, together with the American correspondents’ dispatches from Australia on the recent editorial in the New York “World Telegram” on aid to Australia are given wide publicity here, including a “New York Times” front page. Nevertheless, the “WorldTelegram” has again published an editorial using the same tone. in which it says “Misunderstandings on the MacArthur front may cause trouble unless they are eliminated promptly. “At first the Australians thought they were being neglected, and this was answered by granting their request for General MacArthur as Commander-in-Chief, and giving them high priority in reinforcements and supplies, which otherwise would have gone to Russia and China, and our Hawaii-Midway-Aleutian lineThen General MacArthur had difficulty in getting his authorisation. When Washington finally made up its mind, it took the New Zealand part of the Australian defence unit from General MacArthur’s unified command and put that area under an admiral. Now new offensives have been started in the South Pacific, not by General MacArthur, but by the Japanese; they grabbed Gona and Buna and rapidly drove to Kokoda. As a result Mr W. M. Hughes charged that the Allied command had bungled the situation. General MacArthur’s headquarters replied denying that the enemy advance was important, and gave the signifiant explanation that with the enemy partly controlling th e coast and sea lanes it would have been impossible to defend the advanced positon-

LAND AND SEA DIVISION

“The fact that the enemy is controlling the sea lanes in that area after the Allied victory in the Coral Sea is disquieting. The division of responsibility between General MacArthur and the South Pacific naval command invites passing the buck.” “Meanwhile many of General MacArthur supporters think he is be--1 ing kept on ice down-under when he should be in Washington as the Allied Generalissimo. If he is to stay in Australia, they say, h- should be given reinforcements and authority for the grand counter-offensive to which he is pledged. We share the popular enthusiasm for General MacArthur. but there is a grave danger in any demand for large reinforcements for his front. Last spring it received priority at the expense of the other fronts; now priority must go to the fronts against Germany i n the air and in Russia and against Japan in the Aleutians and China. “At long last President Roosevelt and Premier Churchill have been able to begin concentrating instead of scattering the Allied strength. There is very little chance of the South Pacific getting priorities now. Of course General MacArthur knows this, and as a good soldier he will make the best of it. In fairness to General MacArthur, and to prevent further misunderstanding among our valiant Australian Allies, the General's critics and advocates also should know this and make the best of it.” (Late last week, in reply to the first editorial of the New York newspaper on these lines, the 8.8. C. during an overseas broadcast criticised the article. Informed quarters in London, the 8.8. C. indicated, believed that the article was based on no special information and the statements therein were to be discounted.)—P.A.