THREAT TO MUNDA

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 78, 5 July 1943, Page 5

THREAT TO MUNDA

IN DANGER OF CAPTURE HEAVY FIGHTING AHEAD Sydney, July 4. “Any victory claim must be delayed until it is proved we are able to hold the territory occupied, supply our forces and oust the Japanese,” writes an Australian war correspondent with the American forces in the Solomons, discussing the current strategic operations iji the area. But he adds that a better start to these operations could scarcely have been made. Incessant rain which covered Allied troops movements was providential. Sometimes the ceiling for planes was down to 50 feet. Had the Japanese aircraft been able to find and attack the American fleet more quickly the cost of the initial operations would have been infinitely greater. Admiral Halsey’s headquarters announces that in fierce air battles on Wednesday and Thursday 123 Japanese planes were shot down for the loss of 25 Allied machines. It is claimed that the important enemy central Solomons air base, Munda, which has been under heavy sea, land and air bombardment, is now in danger of capture.

Despite swift Allied successes all commentators agree that emphasis must be on the heavy fighting that still lies ahead rather than on the remote prospect of a Japanese collapse and withdrawal to their inner Pacific base, Truk. Nevertheless the “Sydney Morning Herald’s” military commentator today points out that there are some grounds for optimism because of basic changes in the Pacific position since the Guadalcanar and Owen Stanley campaigns last year. These relate principally to the greater increase in Allied air power and to Allied possession of strategically sited air bases from which to attack Japanese strongholds. Further the double nature of the Solomons and New Guinea attacks will force the enemy to divide his defensive air forces. The same writer anticipates heavy fighting in the Lae-Salamaua-Mubo area, northern New Guinea, where the Japanese have been fortifying for the past 16 months. Veteran Australian troops back from the Middle East are driving from Mubo to join up with the Americans who landed in Nassau Bay. They have been in constant contact with the enemy since the Japanese launched their abortive attack against Wau last January. .

“The hero of the action in our northern waters is General MacArthur,” says the Sydney “Daily Telegraph” editorially to-day. “He always wanted to attack but lacked materials to do so. It would have been easy for General MacArthur to ally himself with those who found it a good line to complain that Australia was being shamefully neglected. He remained aloof from all such temptations. No general in this war has used so little to achieve so much. In the last few months American opinion has moved around to his view, so the Pacific is now rated at the same importance as the war in Europe.”— P.A. Special Australian Correspondent