POWER WANING

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25301, 11 August 1943, Page 3

POWER WANING

THE JAPANESE FORCES MacARTHUR’S CONFIDENCE (N.Z.P.A. Special Aust. Correspondent) SYDNEY, Aug. 10. General MacArthur’s statement' of the certainty of an Allied victory in the Pacific was the most optimistic he has made since coming to Australia 17 months ago. The statement is interpreted to mean that although the turning point in regard to the ultimate result has definitely been passed and the end is now in Allied hands, the time victory will take is dependent on the means provided. The official spokesman at General MacArthur’s headquarters said the successes referred to in the statement dated from the announcement on March 1 that the enemy had taken up “ position in readiness.” Landmarks in the chain of Allied successes since March 1 were; The Bismarck Sea battle, March 3-4, which was probably the turning point in the Japanese southward advance; the repulse of enemy attacks on Wau in central New Guinea in the middle of May; the taking of Mubo in northern New Guinea on July 14; and several naval actions through the whole period as well as air actions from Surabaya ,in Java, to Kavieng, in New Ireland, and the New Georgia group. In a succession of defeats during the past five months the Japanese had suffered heavy naval and air losses. The Allied round-the-clock bombing has disrupted their supply movements on a front extending from Surabaya to the Solomons. The ineffective resistance to the latest American Central Solomons thrust is interpreted as evidence of waning Japanese power in certain categories. Constant night attempts by small destroyer forces to run the Allied blockade suggest that if Japan is not yet seriously short of naval and mercantile power, at least she lacks air resources to give her ships adequate protection. Rarely during recent months have the Japanese been able to match Allied air forces numerically in combat. Some commentators suggest that their apparent inability to produce new plane types, equal to the rising quality of Allied aircraft indicates serious factory deficiencies. Mr Curtin has now said that he does not think it is possible for Japan to bomb Australian cities from aircraft carriers, since Allied air and naval strength is sufficient to ensure interception. He added that the responsibility rests on the Allied commanders in the Pacific as soon as the requisite strength is available to launch a series of limited offensives against the Japanese in order to drive them back and increase the security of Allied territories.