ONLY SLIGHT OPPOSITION

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 77, 6 October 1942, Page 5

ONLY SLIGHT OPPOSITION

Advance in New Guinea AUSTRALIANS MOVING CAUTIOUSLY Sydney, Oct. 5. f orward detachments of Australian troops are beyond the entrance to Hell's Gap, which is the highest point in the Owen Stanley Range. Our advance is proceeding cautiously in anticipation of encountering a stubborn stand by the Japanese. If this does not eventuate within the next 48 hours it is almost certain our troops will be able to drive down the steep northern slopes of the mountains to Kokoda without opposition. The immediate Australian objective is Kagi, about six miles beyond Efogi and the last village south of the range’s highest point. The latest communique from General MacArthur’s headquarters says: ‘Our drive still continues and Allied Kittyhawk fighters are strafing and harrying key points along the enemy’s line of retreat.”

If the Japanese do not give battle in the Kagi Myola sector it is increasingly felt they are likely to withdraw j to the rolling country well beyond the | ranges in the northern side of the 1 Kumusi river bridge at Wairope, the | fatal bottleneck in the enemy supply ‘ line. Australian lines of supply might i then be so attenuated that our forces ! would be unable to push the enemy further back. However, since General MacArthur’s headquarters earlier described the advance as a “limited offensive” it seems possible that the present drive is intended to do no more than dispossess the Japanese of the ranges and reoccupy our previous defensive positions with our forward posts near Kokoda and our main line along the summit of the ranges. NO ORGANISED RESISTANCE A General Headquarters spokesman ! to-day in a cautious appraisal of the situation said isolated groups of Japanese had offered slight resistance to our advance, but so far the enemy had made no organised attempt to fight a i rearguard action. The Australian forces j continued to move carefully to avoid ambushes, with units deployed to pro- j tect their flanks. The “Morning Herald” war correspondent says if the Japanese do not i make their stand in the present area of the Australian advance they are “likely to withdraw altogether from the Buna area.” but he points out that such an evacuation after that at Milne Bay would be a great loss of face. Too much speculation at this stage on ; the reasons for the withdrawal, which j evidently has been made at a faster j rate than the enemy can be pursued. | would not be prudent. Some observers, however, now suggest that the Japanese are finding New Guinea and the Solomons campaigns too much to handle at the same time and they may temporarily abandon the former in order to concentrate all their strength against the American-held islands of the southeastern Solomons. Supporting this theory the “Sydney Morning Herald” war correspondent suggests the reason for the memy’s possible abandonment of the Owen Stanley front might be traced as far back as the last week in August when our heavy destruction of grounded fighter planes on the Buna airfield proved the impracticability of their trying to hold that area as a counter-base to Port Moresby. The present Japanese withdrawal must result in heavier concentrations of enemy troops and supplies in northern Papua, thus increasing their vulnerability to unceasing Allied # air attacks —unless Japan can speedily muster sufficient planes for their protection.—P.A. special Australian correspondent.

OFFENSIVE EXPECTED SOON

PERSISTENT AIR ATTACKS ON ENEMY BASES VIEW OF U.S. COMMENTATOR New Y’ork, Oct. 4. Although neither the Japanese nor the United Nations have been able to build up an offensive superiority in the South-West Pacific capable of decisive results, the situation is not likely to degenerate into a long drawnout stalemate. is the opinion of Major Eliot, published in the “Herald-Tribune.” Both sides have shown ability to fight and willingness to take risks. One or the other will advance again soon and indications are that it will be our side. For example. General MacArthur’s reported torpedo plane attack on Japanese shipping, probably hitting three light cruisers, and two merchantmen. MacArthur’s torpedo planes are either land-based, which is a new departure, or else his small naval force has been reinforced by accretion, including a carrier. Persistent air attacks on Japanese bases in the western Solomons also seem to suggest a coming offensive. If Allied forces in New Guinea can push the Japanese back north of the mountains and begin threatening Kokoda it would be a suitable moment for our forces in the Solomons to advance towards Bougainville and Santa Ysabel. The Japanese are menaced at their outposts both in the South-West PacTlic and the Aleutians. They must decide where to concentrate and what to do. If withdrawn from the Aleutians the Japanese must expect an immediate attack on their positions in the Kurile Islands, which will bring pressure against the northern islands of Japan itself. If they decide to make a great effort and drive us from the Solomons the Japanese must do so very quickly before we seize more of their present bases, and especially before we succeed in outflanking them by driving them from eastern New Guinea. —P.A.

ADREANOF ISLANDS

MILITARY OCCUPATION BY U.S. STRATEGIC SITUATION ALTERED New York, Oct. 4. The military occupation of Andreanof Islands marks the beginning of active preparations to expel the Japanese invaders from the Aleutians, states the New York “Times” in an editorial. The threat that the Japanese might march island by island to the Continent may be dismissed. The enemy is under a sharp warning to defend himself against American offensive. The occupation of the Andreanofs alters the strategic situation in the North Pacific almost as greatly as our conquests in the Solomons altered the situation in the SouthWest Pacific. We are now moving on Japan from two directions and the northern flank is the shortest The Aleutians offer a military highway to Japan. It is only 1640 miles from Dutch Harbour to Paramushir Island, the great Japanese naval base at the northern end of Kurile Islands. We have now advanced to within 125 miles of Kiska, which is the half-way point. “Our experience in the Solomons warns us that the reduction of Kiska will neither be easy nor quick. News that we arc already operating airfields in the Andreanofs explains the increased tempo of recent attacks on Kiska. But aerial attacks will not dislodge the enemy They will soften him up and disorganise his defence against a final amphibious assault. The Andreanofs are the bridge-head of that assault.”

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