MOMENTARY REFLECTION

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 8, Issue 10, 22 September 1944, Page 4

MOMENTARY REFLECTION

THE timely rebuke, by the Australian Prime Minister, regarding the premature anticipation of peace celebrations, particularly with reference to Japan, has a sobering effect in the midst of the surfeit of good tidings now flowing s from the European front. Undoubtedly the end of the war with Hitler is within sight, but we have already had fitter lessons through under-estimating the strength of our foemen. Let us not commit this folly again in connection with the fanatical little warrior of Japan. In Japan and Korea we have just on 100,000,000 persons imbued with the; fateful belief in the divinity of the Mikado, $nd the destined miracle that Japan should rule the world. Already the soldiers vf this country have poured over half Asia* and now hold in their thrall some 150,000,000 Asiatics, who have never been over enthusiastic for the white man s domination. Granted Japan's navy has been battered almost beyond recognition; granted too, her air force has almost ceased to be listed as a belligerent force; but het armies remain still in their innumerable tens of thousands, and it is this tremendous mass of fighting men which must be overcome by the active invasion of Japan itself before genuine victory can be claimed. The world has yet to see how this nation of active little yellow fanatics will react to the dawning conviction of defeat. Knowing something of the Japanese mentality we might just as well admit that such a victory can only be bought at terrific sacrifice and bloody cost, whilst we can also rest assured that after three years of occupation Java, Burma, the In-i dies, and even Manchukuo will furnish subsidiary legions which will be forced to bolster the Nippon military machine, when the battle of Japan, occurs in earnest.