RAID ON PELEWS

New Zealand Herald, Volume 81, Issue 24868, 14 April 1944, Page 3

RAID ON PELEWS

GREAT DAMAGE DONE ROLE OF A!R ADMIRALS <Rml. S.IO p.m.) NEW YORK. April 12 After studying ninny pictures brought bark From the recent raid on the Pelew Islands, in the Western Pacific, highranking naval officers reported that the damage caused by the United States task force was considerably greater than at first believed, says the New York Times correspondent with the Pacific Fleet. They were of the opinion that the enemy had been dealt a crushing blow The Pelew operations emphasised the Navy's new policy of command altered to conform with the changing nature of the Pacific naval warfare, adds the correspondent. Battleship admirals are no longer leading plane-carriers into > battle. Admiral aviators now have the leading role For example. Vice-Admiral Mitscher led" the Pelew task force, which was divided into groups, each commanded by relatively young rear-admiral aviators. When the Japanese fleet is cornered and forced into action the battle- | ship admirals will have their day. Japan has been hampered by a critical shipping shortage for a long time. Ihe Pelew raid deducted at least another 100,000 tons. Furthermore, Japan cannot replace her plane losses. Approximately r,O per cent of first-line Japanese fighters have been destroyed in the past six months. FORM OF GREEK RULE PEOPLE TO DECIDE (Heed. 0.30 p.m.) LONDON. April 13 King George of Greece, upon his return to Cairo from London, issued a proclamation in which he said: "I returned because the political crisis demands an immediate .solution. A new Government is now being formed, and will be composed largely of Greeks who have lived in their country under enemy occupation Arrangements are being made to bring them here." The King reiterated that he is at the disposal of the Greek people, and he will submit himself to their judgment when normal conditions are restored. According to the Cairo radio, the King said that, when Greece regains her liberty, the whole people will he I called on'to decide bv plebiscite the constitution under which they wish to be governed. He added: "We must have a Government outside Greece, as representative as possible, for as long as the enemy oppresses our people." GERMAN ARMY POLICY TWO GENERALS IN POWER (Reed. 0.30 p.m.) LONDON, April 13 Two S.S. generals. Sepp Dietrich, commandant of Hitler's bodyguard, and Ohergruppen, Fuehrer of Bartenstein, East Prussia, now control the direction of all German Army operations, says the Swiss newspaper Journal de Geneve. They have established permanent quarters' at Berchtesgaden. The two generals have unlimited influence with Hitler, their advice regularly over-ruling Army leaders' opinions. They are responsible for the 'elastic defence" in Russia. OIL STOCKS SEIZED SPANISH MOROCCO ACTION ' LONDON, April 12 The Spanish authorities last Saturday seized the Anglo-American, Shell, and Vacuum oil companies' entire petrol oil stocks at Tetuan, Spanish Morocco, says the Daily Express. British and American diplomatic _ representatives are reported to have jointly protested and are awaiting further instructions from London and Washington. The Spaniards are already distributing the confiscated oil through their Government - controlled agency, the Atlas Oil Company. The stocks, which are stated to he small reserve supplies, were seized after the companies had refused to pay a special tax which the authorities imposed following the oil ban last January. ARTIFICIAL ICEBERGS REPORTED GERMAN DEVICE | (Rrcil. 030 p.m.) f/ONDON, April !•'! j The Germans are using a new chemi- i cat which produces intense cold and j freezes everything within a radius of j 500 yds., says the German Radio | National, which is one of three stations [ describing themselves as "free British j radio." Radio National adds that British coast watchers and scientific experts have been mystified in recent weeks by the sudden appearance of large icebergs in the Channel and North Sea between the Thames Kstuarv and the Dutch coast. These were caused b.v projectiles containing the new chemical, which creates a temperature of 3(54 degrees Fahrenheit below freezing point at the point of impact and "204 degrees below freezing point at a distance of 500 yds. "The effect is to kill everything within the area and make steel and concrete structures so brittle that they collapse at a touch." ACE AI liM AM HONOURED ! (Recti. 5.35 p.m ) WASHINGTON, April 12 Major Gregory Boyington, the United States Marine Corps ace flier who has been missing since early in January, has been awarded the Congressional Medal of Honour, the highest American decoration. Major Boyington was serving in the Solomons*