FIRST ROUND

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24912, 11 May 1942, Page 5

FIRST ROUND

ALLIED VICTORY HARDER BLOWS EXPECTED (Rec 11.30 p.m.) NEW YORK, May 10. In contrast with his gloomy comment yesterday on the Coral Sea Battle, Mr. Fletcher Pratt, in the New York Post, says to-day: "To-day things look so good that they could not look better. .This is a victory. It should be realised, however, that it may be a temporary victory, and the Japanese may return- reinforced. This has been their -jhetfiod throughout the".war.'..They are extraordinarily:., persistent, 'and "also have enough forces to make the next blow harder." Most- papers somewhat disregard General- Douglas MacArthur's warning against over-optiniism, and display the news of the battle under banner head-lines-.on the front pagej such as, "Japanese Fleet Smashed-in Great Victory." Fate of South Pacific The New .York World Telegram commentator says that the battle will probably decide the fate of the South Pacific. Moreover, it will affect naval strategy and building everywhere. The Secretary of State, Mr Cordell Hull, told a press conference that "it is difficult to refrain from expressions equal to the magnitude of the victory reported from the CoraL Sea, but I cannot make a fuller statement until all the facts are received." Commenting on the battle, the New. York Times commentator. Mr Hanson Baldwin, says that a clear picture of the battle is not yet available; but, judging from the fragmentary reports, the action was not fought between the main bodies of the oppojing fleets, but between large task forces. The battle seems to be a prelude of ereater actions, since the official comment stresses that there is no ground for hope that the strength of the Japanese Fleet's "has been broken. " Typical Hitlerian Technique " " Japan will probably reinforce her naval units in the Coral Sea," Mr Baldwin continues. " One Japanese characteristic is tenacity. They will keep trying until they win or die. For them there is no middle ground. Meantime, the Japanese are still fighting in Burma and Southern China, and are also menacing India. With typical Hitlerian technique, they are threatening everywhere, thus maskin? their real intentions: but the naval battle in the Coral Sea may soon force a showing of their hand. "In Europe Hitler still marks time as the ground dries on the eastern front, but this is an indivisible war, and what happens in Russia is closely linked to what is happening in the South-western Pacific. The wrecks of the Japanese ships littering the waters of the. Coral Sea may typify the wreckage also of Hitler's hopes."