SOLOMONS TEST

Dominion, Volume 36, Issue 23, 22 October 1942, Page 5

SOLOMONS TEST

Strange Battlefield For Decisive Results INTERSECTION OF POWER (Received October 21, 7 p.,m.) N®W YORK, October 20. “It is strange, that in a war in which the armies are counted by millions and nearly 2000 million persons are involved, a decisive engagement should be fought in a scantilypopulated, half-unexplored area without economic importance,” comments the “New York Times” in an editorial. “Yet this is a true description of the battle of the Solomon islands. “The land forces on either side are small beside those fighting within the city of Stalingrad, and the air forces are small (beside those that participated in the raid on Dieppe. “It is impossible to estimate the naval forces, but we are entitled to suppose that what occurs in the next few days on and over the sea at this intersection of .power in the Far East will have a profound effect on the strategy of the war in the Pacific. “The ti,me (had to come in this area when the Japanese, mustering all their striking power, would move against the Americans, employing all their defensive and offensive forces. The Americans have no doubts of the ultimate issue in the Pacific. As for the immediate result at Guadalcanal, we can hope and pray—that is all we can do, aside from working harder and making sacrifices to help the cause along.” Both Sides Warned.

“At any moment the battle of Guadalcanal could precipitate a major fleet action which might put Australia in peril or burst the bubble of Japanese conquests,” says the “Christian Science Monitor.” It adds. “A jnajor naval battle in the Solomons can be expected soon, because, unless Japan can win naval dominance she faces a continuous whittling down of sea and air power by the American flyers, including the Fortresses from Australia. Tokio may conclude that a decisive battle had better be fought in the Solomons rather than in Japanese waters.

“The Japanese counter-attacks have removed any prospect of exploiting, the American seizure of Guadalcanal in a major United Nations offensive: indeed, the Americans must cling to the vital airfield' or face the prospects of a now Japanese drive on Australia.” Tokio radio announces that the Foreign Office spokesman, Tomokazu Hori, broadcasting to the Japanese nation, said that the Pacific conflict was gradually assuming the aspect, of a long-ter.m war which was requiring all the strength of the Japanese people. He also warned the Japanese of the possibility of a general counter-attack by the United Nations, and declared that United Nations strategists were considering the Pacific area and Africa as well as Europe for the formation of a second front.