dent. NEW EXPERIENCE FOR JAPAN

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 79, 15 August 1944, Page 5

dent. NEW EXPERIENCE FOR JAPAN

CAPITULATION MAY BE POSSIBLE Pearl Harbour, August 13. ‘•This war is a new experience for Japan. In recent times they have been on the winning side. We do not know how much they can take before throwing in the sponge,’* said the United States naval Commander-in-Chief in the Pacific, Admiral Nimitz, at a Press conference. He indicated his belief that Japan may capitulate without an invasion of the Japanese homeland. However, occupation of Japan would be necessary, he said, to ensure peace. Admiral Nimitz, who has just returned from a visit to advanced positions in the Marianas and Marshals, declared that he was anxious to move his headquarters to the fighting area. He reported that the Japanese lost 52,323 dead and 3022 prisoners in the invasion of the Gilberts. Marshalls and Marianas, in which 5903 Americans were killed. “Because of the great distances involved. it hardly seems possible to deliver the bomb tonnages on Japan that have been delivered on German-occu-pied Europe,” he said. The Director of the Office of War Information. Mr Elmer Davis, attending the Press conference after his return from the Marianas, suggested that it was possible to starve the Japanese out, because virtually all Japan’s food was imported. Admiral Nimitz agreed that the sea blockade would go a long way toward bringing Japan down. He added: “We will put the heat on as hard and fast aswecnnf’