“HIT, NOT SIT”

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 64, Issue 4558, 10 April 1942, Page 6

“HIT, NOT SIT”

A FIGHTING LEADER I LIEUTENANT-GENERAL brettl “Lose this country? No, sir, Never!! said Lieutenant-General G. H. Bret® Deputy Supreme Commander of th! Allied Forces in the Anzac Area, du« ing an interview at United Stat® headquarters in Australia. “In spi® cf all the talk about Java,” he sail “we got three aeroplanes for eve® one we lost in the air. Here in Au® tralia, we have laid a fine foundati® —and I have not lost any of my fail in the Australians.” Lieutenant-Gel eral Brett has assumed command I the combined Allied air forces in tM Anzac zone. For 27 years he h® “nursed” the United States Air Fore! He is working now on organisatiol which will bring the American anl Australian Air Forces together morl closely under his command —“to til them in with a combined staff.” Il the first stages of the transition, hl said, there would be a mixture of Ausl tralians and Americans working fol the one urgent purpose of repellini and destroying the enemy. As thl organisation developed he proposel that each squadron should be a nal tional unit. In all probability wholl stations would be national units. STANDARDISATION PLAN Lieutenant-General Brett said th.-I he would strongly recommend thl supplying of all the Allies’ aeria needs in the Anzac area from Amerl ca. “I am all for standardisation] he added. “It is logical for the Uni ted States to take over the supply d aircraft to Australia. It is ndt a qued tion of American equipment or Aus tralian equipment that should exer cise us now. We are pooling all w have for the common good and usin; it wherever it will be of the mos benefit.” Lieutenant-General Brett was en thusiastic in his praise of the Austra lian flyers, whom he had seen in actio in the Middle East some months ag< “I’ll say I formed a good opinion c them,” he said, “and, believe me, haven’t altered it yet.” Discussion of the Java campaign le him to speak of the Japanese as aii men. “Give the Japanese. 200 acre

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the American Air Force in Australia, said Lieutenant-General Brett. Many of his “boys” had gained valuable experience in Java. All were acquiring operational experience in Australia, and were doing well. “For the length of time we have been here, I feel we have put in. a good start,” he said. “Those Japanese are going to know that we are beginning to hit, and we are not going to sit. No, sir! Once the men under my command get started they must roll on, and nothing is going to stop their roll.” He spoke of plans which he has for organisation of the unified command —a scheme in which the Australian and American air arms will keep their separate entity while working together as one force. He said that he probably would split the work into operational commands. Details of the scheme, he added, had yet to be worked out with his senior officers. Lieutenant-General George H. Brett, who is 56, was Chief of the Air Corps of the United States Army up to the time of his appointment in January as deputy commander to General Sir Archibald Wavell in the south-west” Pacific area. Grey-haired, dapper, and popular, he has not let desk duties keep him on the ground, and he is still rated as a first-rate pilot. General Brett is an expert on supply, and, having made a trip last year which included Egypt, Britain, India,* and Russia, he probably knows more about the problems of Allied co-operatioh than any other United States military leader.