SEEKING WARPLANES

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 87, Issue 62, 16 March 1943, Page 3

SEEKING WARPLANES

GENERAL KENNEY IN WASHINGTON Recd. 6 p.m. Washington, March 14. General MacArthur has sent his air chief, Lieut.-General Kenney, to Washington to present the case for greater air striking power in the southern Pacific theatre, war experts believe. The news of the arrival of General Kenney, Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Air Forces in the South-west Pacific, leaked out despite official secrecy, but a Washington correspondent of the New York Times declares it is no secret that General MacArthur wants more planes. The correspondent writes: “General MacArthur wants bombers and fighters in greater numbers than he now is getting them, and he wants them as intensely as the Russians want a second front. “General MacArthur denies that the Bismarck Sea victory, a fortnight ago, is proof of Allied quantitative air superiority.” Mr. Edwin James, managing editor of the New York Times, writes that General MacArthur may not get all the planes he wants because Washington believes Europe to be the most important battlefield this year. But he points out the vital need for longrange heavy bombers to maintain the attacks on Rebaul, which is outside the range of lighter aircraft. "The Allied bases in the Pacific must be guaranteed,” writes Mr. James. "If we risk losing Australia we risk crippling ourselves immensely in the Pacific battle, which is bound to assume major proportions sooner or later. It is not expected that General Kenney will return to the Pacific empty-handed.”