BOMBS ON JAPAN

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25239, 31 May 1943, Page 3

BOMBS ON JAPAN

THE WASHINGTON TALKS POSSIBLE CHANGE OF POLICY (Rec. 8 p.m.) LONDON, May 29. “If Mr Churchill, as my information indicates, has won over President Roosevelt to change the « policy in the Far East, it may mean that one of these fine days the mainland of Japan will be treated to British and American y bombing,” says the Daily Mail’s diplomatic correspondent. “The Burma campaign was never popular with Whitehall,” the correspondent says. “ and events haye proved that sniping odd Japanese in fever-infesipd jungles is not the quickest way of overwhelming a powerful, fanatical enemy. It is conceivable that American experts might not have been ready to agree automatically when Mr Churchill, in his frank way, expressed this opinion. This may be the reason for reports from America that there were differences of opinion at the conference just concluded. Mr Churchill and President Roosevelt are, however, such fast friends that such reports can be largely ignored.” Discussing the difficulties in the way of a meeting between President Roosevelt and M. Stalin, the correspondent says: “ It may be true that the Davies mission in Moscow has some other and more immediate purpose. Hitler’s hesitation in launching the expected offensive against the Russians indicates something of his present dilemma. The Russians three weeks ago awaited a big German attack, of which they had precise information. Tunis and Bizerta fell, and it is possible that the North African defeat was quite unexpected by Hitler and that it disorganised his plans. It is believed that the Germans expected the Tunisian campaign to last for at least an additional month. The presence of Rommel in the Balkans may indicate that the Germans expect a British and American thrust thereabouts, but the Nazis have clearly not solved the problem of Italy. They have also sent strong reinforcements to Denmark.”