DIFFICULT YEAR

New Zealand Herald, Volume 80, Issue 24761, 8 December 1943, Page 4

DIFFICULT YEAR

SOUTH PACIFIC WAR CHANGED OUTLOOK NOW ADMIRAL HALSEY'S REVIEW (Reed. 5.55 p.m.) WASHINGTON. Dec. 6 Reviewing the second yea*r of the war in the South Pacific, Admiral Halsey, Allied commander in the South Pacific, said it had been a difficult year for the Allied forces. "Looking back from the initial steps to the moment at 3 p.m. on August 5, when our combined army and marine units, supplemented by New Zealand, Australian and Fijian associates, completed the capture of our second Solomons objective, the Munda airfield, we can take deep pride in having achieved much against great odds," Admiral Halsey said. "Well aware of the odds to be faced, a new-born South Pacific force moved against the lower Solomons on August 7. 1912. History shows that tins force, then under Vice-Admiral Ghorm]ev, accomplished its mission. Guadalcanal Gavutu and Tanambogo were surprised in a perfectly-timed, well-co-ordinated early morning assault. Earnest Beginning "Perhaps we should have wished to postpone our entry in the Solomons until a later date, when our strength in aircraft, ships and men had been greater. It is no secret to-day that we had little choice in the matter. At the very momenjj when Lieutenant-Geneial Vandegrift's marine shock troops swarmed into beachheads on Guadalcanal- the Henderson field was receiving the final touches from enemy graders and rollers. Delay would have jeopardised the security of the islands to the south, as well as Australia and possibly New-, Zealand. "In the prosecution of the Pacific war, which encompasses 70,000,000 square miles from the Aleutians to New Zealand and from the China Sea to the west coast of America, we have now made an earnest offensive beginning. Our first year in South Pacific sea warfare alone haa accounted for what can be regarded jvs an impressive enemy fleet sunk or damaged in air and surface engagements. Submarine and Air Success "I regret that security does not permit me to say much of submarine action, but this much I can say," Admiral Halsey continued. "Our underseas forces have grown daily. They strike hard and often where it hurts most. The enemy's attenuated supply lines, which he must frantically guard to pour more men and materials into his cracking perimeter defences, provide us with a 3000-mile target. "In the air our navy, marine and army pilots are generally outnumbered, but never outfought. Thev have shot down more than 1800 planes of ail categories. We can say with pardonable pride that one American is worth at least four Japanese in aerial combat. As our forces grow we shall be able to send heavier aerial concentrations against the enemy. Unity of Command "The final days of the Munda onslaught saw 200 aircraft bringing our wrath down upon the enemy's head. The Japanese found his own attempts at mass aerial attack devastating to himself. Witness his rout on April 7, June 16 and 30. On those three days the enemy lost 234 planes. "Early this year the South Pacific force, which always has been and remains an integral part of the United States Pacific Fleet, came under the strategical command of General MacArthur. Each of us, he in his theatre and we in ours, has long been aiming at the same ultimate objective. The co-ordination of our efforts was nothing new. This unity of command was the natural outcome of our northward progress. Throughout our entire South Pacific operations General Mac Arthur's army bombers have played an essential role in .the success attained. Here teamwork has always been of the highest order. New Phase ol Campaign "We have begun a new phase of the campaign in the waters and islands of the South-western Pacific," said Admiral Halsey. "Many months of unrelenting labour have brought us to this desirable stage—hard months of preparation, made harder by the fact that we started from scratch. "We went into harbours where there were little, if any. docking facilities and built them. We cut_ the turnaround time of cargo ships carrying vital supplies from weeks to days. Our magnificent engineers, the Navy Sea Bees (Construction Battalion) and army units hewed airfields_ out of jungles and we got planes into them in time to stem all counter-attacks against our new hard-won advanced positions. Sometimes it was a tough go, often sheer courage, as exemplified by the marine fliers who ferried gasoline drums into Guadalcanar in unarmed transport planes during the dark days .of Octohcr, 1942, and tipped the scales from defeat to ultimate victory.

"This I can promise—we shall have offensives. Tt is not the nature of Americans, New Zealanders and Australians to stand idly bv while the enemy overruns their lands. Nor does anyone feel he has begun to win until lie reaches enemy soil. Taking back what was ours originally is just the start. Ench of us has an appointment in Tokyo." ARREST OF STUDENTS STORY OF OSLO. ROUND-UP LONDON. Dec. 6 Two weary half-frozen children who escaped to Sweden have told correspondents how they saw their fellowstudents at Oslo University arrested last Tuesday. The Norwegian underground movement told them what was coming, but the students did not believe it. * Last Tuesday as they walked toward their classes German and Quisling police cars made for the university. The two children ran from the building and from a street car they saw students being bundled into military lorries. Machine-gunners were posted around Oslo Hospital while medical students were being arrested. The two children went by train to the 20-mile limit allowed by the Germans and then walked toward Sweden, a distance of 50 miles as the crow flies. Country people helped them and they arrived safely after a day and night on foot over country covered with ice and snow.

University demonstrations occurred in Sweden and Switzerland on' Saturday against the arrest of the Oslo students. Students at the Upsala University demonstrated in mass. Professors and students at the Zurich Univensitv held a protest meeting. The Basle University has planned a demonstration for Tuesday. The Berlin radio said that the Norwegian security police had ordered all Oslo students to return their homes and to report to the police. The students were warned not to leave their home areas without a permit.