CONFERENCE ENDS

Waikato Times, Volume 195, Issue 22456, 18 September 1944, Page 4

CONFERENCE ENDS

UNITY OF LEADERS WAR AGAINST JAPAN ALL ALLIES’ RESOURCES (United Press Assn.—Eire. Tel. copyright. QUEBEC, Sept. 16 At the conclusion of their conference at Quebec, Mr Churchill and President Roosevelt issued a joint statement. The statement said that the President, the Prime Minister and the combined chiefs of staff held a series of meetings during which they discussed all aspects of the war against Japan and Germany. In a very short space of time they reached decisions on all points as regards the completion of the war in Europe, which is now approaching its final stages, and the destruction of the barbarians in the Pacific. The most serious difficulty with which the conference was confronted was to find room for opportunity for marshalling against Japan the massive forces which each and all the nations concerned are ardent to engage against the enemy. After issuing the statement, the two leaders told a press conference that the United States and the British Empire decided to marshal all the available forces against Japan. They also disclosed that the problem of a joint Pacific command had not been discussed. Commanders in Pacific President Roosevelt said the question was being asked who could command the Pacific war. The vast distances must be considered, he said. Lord Louis Mountbatten commands one section from Ceylon, General MacArthur commands the South-west Pacific, Admiral Nimitz commands the forces afloat. It was not a question of one person running the whole show. Commenting on speculation in the press about the nomination of a supreme Pacific commander at the Quebec conference, Mr Roosevelt said the problem had not been considered. The problems which had been considered had to do with finding room and opportunity to marshal sufficient forces of the Army, Navy and Air Force to crush the enemy. The Allies had the power. It was only a question of choosing the point of contact. Mr Churchill said that quasi-mili-tary problems following the Nazis’ defection had been discussed with the same unanimity as the strictly military questions, and the war against the Japanese would be fought to bend that evil and barbarous nation to the will of those they had outraged and at whose feet they would very soon be prostrate. “I read in the newspapers that the British wish to shirk their obligations in the war against Japan and throw the full burden on the United States,” added Mr Churchill. “This astonished me very much, because in feet the conference has been marked by the opposite tendency. The only difference between me and the President is over the United States’ desire to carry too much of the burden of the Pacific fighting.” All Britain’s Power Smiling, Mr Churchill added: “That trouble will all iron gut. *They just cannot have all*Vfc fun. They must share it. Everything of the British Army, the Royal Air Force and the Navy that we can move to the Pacific will be applied against Japan.” Mr Roosevelt said the conference had taken less time, produced fewer arguments and brought more complete unanimity than any which he and Mr Churchill had ever conducted. Within limits of space and shipping, all the forces of the United States and the British Empire would be thrown against Japan to end barbarism in the Pacific. A British Broadcasting Corporation German language broadcast reported that a very urgent matter called the British Foreign Secretary, Mr Anthony Eden, to Quebec. It added that Mr Eden received news of such tremendous importance that it was regarded as unwise to transmit it. He therefore communicated it personally to Mr Churchill.