FATE CERTAIN

New Zealand Herald, Volume 81, Issue 24832, 2 March 1944, Page 5

FATE CERTAIN

ENCLOSED ENEMY SUPPLY _LINES CUT ADVANCE OF ALLIES FLANK NOW COVERED (Special Australian Correspondent) jfßecd 9.15 p.m.) SYDNEY, March 1 Reporting the landing in the Admiralty Islands the communique from General Mac Arthur's headquarter* says: "We have landed in the Admiralty Islands, which stand a, the' northern entrance to the Bismarck Sea, almost due south of Guam and 1300 miles from the Philippines. "Elements of the First Cavalry Division, dismounted, were put ashore from destroyers in the early forenoon, covered by naval and air bombardment. The enemy's surprise was complete. Momote airfield is in our hands and the enemy's resistance is being rapidly overcome.

Great Swinging Movement "This marks a final stage in the great Bringing move pivoted on New Guinea which has been the basic purpose of the operations initiated on June 29, 1943, when the South-west Pacific area and the South Pacific area were united Tinder General Mac Arthur's command. "The axis of advance has thereby been changed from north to west. This relieves our supply line of the constant threat of a flank attack which has been present since the beginning of the Papuan campaign. This line, previously 10 precariously exposed, is now firmly secured, not only by air coverage, but by our own front, to which it is perpendicular.

Foundation ior Future "The operation has been a delicate one and its final success lays a strategically firm foundation for the future. Tactically it tightens the blockade of the enemy's remaining bases. Their air supply lines are definitely and conclusively severed and only a minimum of blockade running, by submarines or individual surface craft, is now possible. "In addition to the troops trapped in th-3 Solomons (previously officially estimated at about 22,000) some 50,000 of the enemy. lart;ply in New Britain, are now enclosed. Their situation has become precarious and their ultimate fate is certain under blockade, bombardpent and increasing pressure of besieging ground forces. "The end of the Bismarck campaign is now clearly in sight with a minimum loss to ourselves." ,

JAPANESE MOVEMENTS .WITHDRAWAL- SUGGESTED ENTIRE SOUTH-WEST PACIFIC NEW YORK, Feb. Recent events suggest the possibility that the Japanese are withdrawing from the entire South-west Pacific area, including the Bismarck Archipelago, says the New York Times, which adds: "The Tokyo radio encouraged the Japanese to believe that ltabaul would be held against all hazards, but the Solomons were part of that same defence and the Japanese were forced to slink out of those islands —and the odds ore piling up against the defenders of the Bismarcks even more heavily. "A reluctant retreat from an impossible position may be the answer there it was in the Aleutians. Wo are not likely to know until it is an accomplished fact, because General MacArthur apparently has not the forces at his disposal to make a test in frontal assaults. If the Japanese withdraw frorn the Bismarcks and Admiralty Islands the Marshalls would be in a seriously exposed "position." An American Associated Press correspondent on board a destroyer in the South Pacific says that Captain Arleigh Burke, commander of the naval task forces which are raiding Rabaul, New i Britain, and Kavieng, New Ireland, believes the Japanese abandoned the Bismarcks, including New Britain and New Ireland. He said he thought the Japanese troops who had been deserted on those islands would col lapse, but not quickly. Ships which were sunk ffcently in the area were in the act of W'moving key personnel and, apparently, ammunition.