MACARTHUR’S COMMAND

Waikato Times, Volume 132, Issue 22152, 25 September 1943, Page 5

MACARTHUR’S COMMAND

REPLY TO CRITICISM

STRATEGY IN PACIFIC

United Press Assn. —E-iec. Tel. CopyrigTU) WASHINGTON, Sept. 23

Replying to press conference questions about General MacArthur’s recent statement on Allied strategy, Mr H. L. Stimson, Secretary oi War, said he knew of no plans to call General Mac Arthur home for a conference. He added that General MacArtbur was very busily engaged and very active in important operations. “I dcubt if he would want to leave at this time,” he said. “People from here are all the time going out to see him.”

Reporters asked whether Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten’s Southeast Asia Command would overshadow or overlap General MacArthur’s South-west Pacific theatre. Mr Stimson replied: “I have never heard it suggested.” Comment in high quarters in Washington is to the effect that General MacArthur himself suggested the strategy operating in the Pacific and the major blows being delivered under Iris command. If General MacArthur’s statement has puzzled the public, it has puzzled officialdom fully as much. Status Not Changed

How.ever, curious its terms, General MacArthur’s statement is regarded in Washington as answering Australian press comment and possibly Senator Chandler, says the United Press correspondent. It can be stated on high, if unquotable authority, firstly, that no controversy exists between General MacArthur and the High Command; secondly, nothing happened at Quebec changing General MacArthur’s status; thirdly, General MacArthur’s strategic plan was adopted virtually intact at Casablanca and the details settled at a subsequent Pacific staff officers’ conference.

The Associated Press correspondent states that the position of General MacArthur’s - command has been clarified by the London announcement defining Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten’s area. Eventually some adjustment of responsibility may be necessary, but both must retake large portions of conquered territory before their respective theatres can conceivably overlap. Both apparently are at an eventual breakthrough into the China Sea. British Commander

The New York Times says: “If General Marshall becomes world generalissimo, surely the British Empire is entitled to appoint a commander for Asiatic operations based on India.”

It adds that Admiral Mountbatten’s appointment does not raise the question of General MacArthur’s subordination since the distances in the East are so great that operations must be split into several commands. ,

“Only when the final stages of the invasion of Japan from China and Korea have been reached will the question of a Supreme Commander in East Asia become pertinent.”