The Waikato Times TUESDAY, JUNE 9, 1942 JAPANESE REVERSE AT MIDWAY

Waikato Times, Volume 131, Issue 21750, 9 June 1942, Page 2

The Waikato Times TUESDAY, JUNE 9, 1942 JAPANESE REVERSE AT MIDWAY

So much has been left unsaid regarding the great naval and air battle at Midway Island that it is better to wait for the full story before jumping to conclusions. The best news so far is that two and possibly three aircraft carriers have been destroyed, with all their aircraft. For the rest, three battleships, four cruisers and three transports have been damaged, some seriously. But “ damage ” is a very elastic term. It may not mean that the ships concerned are incapable of continuing the battle. The fact that the Japanese continued to attack for at least three days indicates their strength and their determination, for it seems that flight would be open to them at any stage, since the weight of the American attack was probably based on Midway Island. What mischief the enemy had in mind can only be guessed. His was not only a task force but a powerful battle fleet, even if he had no more ships than those mentioned as casualties. The probability is that he has many more, which means that he was abroad on a venture of major proportions. The presence of transports, if they carried men and not only supplies, suggests the intention of making a landing somewhere. Perhaps Midway and Hawaii were the objectives—certainly Midway, since that was the scene of the enemy assault. Japan apparently blundered into the greatest surprise of the war. Midway’s striking power must have been seriously misjudged. Whether it was aircraft or warships which were responsible for the damage remains to be seen, but the United States had at least an aircraft carrier at Midway, and that and a destroyer were the only American vessels to suffer damage. Assuming that the United States succeeds in driving the enemy off, the battle of Midway Island might have a most important effect on the naval situation in the Pacific. Japan cannot afford too often to risk her battle fleet. She has suffered so heavily and the United States so lightly since the disaster of Pearl Harbour, and the United States is building warships so rapidly that Japan must sink into a condition of inferiority. If the damage to the ships mentioned is really serious, the Midway battle assumes the proportions of a disaster to the Japanese cause. There is, however, the possibility that the United States caused most of the damage by air action and has not a sufficient naval force at Midway to pursue the Japanese and complete the victory, in which case the Japanese might still have a dangerous force abroad to cause other mischief.