FALL OF KISKA

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 87, Issue 199, 24 August 1943, Page 5

FALL OF KISKA

ESTABLISHED ALLIED SUPERIORITY CRITIC TAKES U.S. NAVY TO TASK (By Telepr;.ph—Press Association—Copyright) Recd. 9.10 p.m New York, Aug. 23 “The Fall of Kiska estabiishec Allied superiority in e\ery way anc the Japanese are now en the run.” This view was expressed by Ihe chief of the American Western Defenc? Command. Lieutenant-General John Dewitt, whose jurisdiction covers Kiska. Explaining that the reoccupation of Kiska cleared our shortest highway to Japan, Lieut.-Gen. Dewitt said:- - “We to-day are where the Japanese were when they struck at Pearl Harbour and swept clown the South-west Pacific. Then wo had to split our forces and the Japanese taunted us: ‘Where is the United States Fleet? - But we were finally able to make a stand at Midway, New Guinea and Guadalcanal’. Now we ask: ‘Where is the Japanese Fleet?’ The answer is that the Japanese Navy is hiding and dispersed--part on the ocean floor, part in the South Pacific to counter Admiral Halsey’s forces, part in home

waters to meet threats from Admiral Nimitz, and part in the North Pacific to counter Admiral Kinkaid’s potential threats. It will be a long war but Kiska proved that the Japanese know when they are licked—and we now know they will run. Wo do not know how the evacuation was effected. The Japanese may have escaped by submarine. The American Navy sank several submarines attempting to run the blockade at night. It is also possible that the Japanese used barges,- bu.t as the nearest enemy base is Paramushiru, 900 miles away, th-eir chances of survival would be slight.” Criticising the Navy for allowing Ike Japanese to get away from Kiska, Hanson Baldwin, in the New York Times, says the circumstances surrounding the evacuation “ought to make somebody’s face red.” He adds:—“The situation is not helped by the Navy’s naive statement that dense fog, bad weather and th-e great area of ocean to cover constitutes a partial explanation of the enemy’s successful escape. Our great superiority in surface ships and aeroplanes should have yielded better results. There are indications that our aerial reconnaissance left much to be desired.” Baldwin also criticises the Navy for withholding the news of the Kiska evacuation for three weeks. “It is obvious,” he said, "that the censorship is keeping from the American people many facts they are entitled to know and is covering up mistakes and inefficiency."