NAVAL PROBLEMS

New Zealand Herald, Volume 81, Issue 24832, 2 March 1944, Page 3

NAVAL PROBLEMS

JAPAN'S HIGH COMMAND THIRD PHASE OF THE WAR NBW YOBK, Feb. 20 Roving American naval forces are giving Japanese garrisons on scores of Central Pacific Islands grave cause for anxiety, following the raids on Trnk, Saipan, Tinian. and Guam. Most commentators in the United States emphasise the probability of Japan falling back on her inner defence zone, and the Commander-in-Chief of the United States Pacific Fleet, Admiral Nimitz, is quoted as the authority for the statement that the enemy fleet has lost so many destroyers and supply ships that it is mnv unbalanced and is dodging a fight. The military correspondent of the Herald-Tribune points out that Japanese heavy ships can only be in home waters or at Singapore, whence they could still act as a covering force for the important Manila-Hongkong-For-mosa triangle, in which Arqcrican domination would be fatal to Japan. He also expresses the belief that a Japanese move to the Bay of Bengal, though a great risk, would be no greater risk than simply sitting still, as at Truk, and concludes: "Is it now becoming more and more necessary for the Japanese Navy to do something—anything—which will regain to some extent the confidence of the people and of the Army."

Generally, Japan is seen entering a third phase of her war. The previous phases were the conquest and the exploitation. The New York Times says: "In land fighting, where they can afford to lose men for the sake of holding the enemy, the Japanese still show a disposition to fight to the last bullet and the last crumb. At sea, where a last-ditch stand now might decide in an afternoon the fate of the Pacific war, Japan has offered no such challenge. Where Japan will draw an ocean battle line to fight it out at any cost is a fundamental question, and finding the answer is the Japanese High Command's problem." NAZI FLOOD PLANS WESTERN NETHERLANDS NEW ZONE OF WATER DEFENCE LONDON, Feb. 29 News has reached Dutch Government circles in London that the Germans have plans in preparation for inundating important parts of the western Netherlands in the event of an invasion. These areas have nothing to do with Holland's normal water defence zone for defending the country against attacks from the east, but comprise an entirely new stretch of country outside the recognised water areas, it is stated. The Dutch Government-sponsored "Voice of the Netherlands," conimenting on the proposals, says: "In Holland. with a total population „of 9,000,000 and with a quarter of the national soil lying below sea level and further areas below higb-tide level, this German water defence plan means that possibly a third or more of the population will be faced with either an immediate helter-skelter evacuation, in which everything must be left behind, or with almost the certainty of death by drowning. "Nothing ever previously thought of, in war or in nightmares, approaches the horror of a defence so conceived. In comparison with such a threat, the Nazis' other measures are trifling, yet they all testify to the Germans' growing fears, and to their now complete realisation that there i,s nowhere tlie.v can turn in Holland for safety against, the all-surrounding, rising waves of active resistance and readiness to help the counter-invasion."

OIL FOR PACIFIC WAR VAST PIPELINE PROJECT NEW YORK, Feb. 20 To assure oil supplies for the growing offensive in the Pan fir the United Slates Army and Xav.v Hoard, with the approval of the Mexican (Jovernmetit, is planning to build two pipelines from Texas to Salina Cruz, on the Gulf of Toll nan tepee. The Washington correspondent, of the New York Herald-Tribune savs the pipelines will he of great value to the I*ii i tod Nations in the event of the Panama Canal being blockaded. With a daily capacity of 500,000 barrels, the project, which is estimated to cost 60,000,000 dollars, is regarded ns so urgent that the highest priorities for its materials are assured. It is expected to be finished within a year. LESSONS IN ENGLISH RADIO TO CONTINENT LOXDON, Fol). 2!) The 8.8.C. has started a series of five-minute lessons in English for listeners on the Continent. They are broadcasting in English, not a word of any other language being spoken. it is estimated that there are about five million people in Europe with sufficient knowledge of English to understand a news bulletin, and the main purpose yf these broadcasts is to increase those listeners' knowledge. But it is also hoped to teach others our language. The two subjects for each broadcast are: "How Good Js Your English ?" and "What's the News?" The first is devoted to making colloquial and idiomatic English as clear as possible, with the help of simple phrases "as examples. The second defines what is meant by words and phrases in the broadcasts, rendering succeeding ones easier to understand.