HEAVY JAPANESE TROOP LOSS

Dominion, Volume 36, Issue 30, 30 October 1942, Page 5

HEAVY JAPANESE TROOP LOSS

Solomons Battle APPARENT LULL IN ACTIVITY Help Against Enemy (By Telegraph. —Press Assn. —Copyright.) LONDON, October 28. A United States Navy Department communique says: “On the night of October 26-27 our troops on Guadalcanal Island repulsed .several small-scale enemy thrusts against our positions. The enemy losses in. men and equipment in the troop actions since October 23 have been very heavy compared with ours. No report has been received of any other action in the Solomons area since the previous communique.”

The American naval spokesman in London said that while there is no doubt that the United Stales naval forces are greatly outnumbered at present, confidence is expressed that the inequality will be redressed before long, and that air superiority in the South-west Pacific will be achieved in a very short time. Pointing out the Japanese difficulty in replacing air losses, the spokesman said' that in the first four weeks' operations in the Solomons and New Guinea areas tho Japanese lost about 175 planes, and when they lost a plane there they had lost a pilot, too. Meanwhile, the job of the marines is to hold ground they have won, and this they appear to be doing. The main battle is in the air rather than on the sea. United States air-,power is decidedly on. the up grade, while Japan’s is on the down grade, with her construction unable to replace the losses sustained. “Fight To A Finish.” “No authority is prepared to hazard a guess at the outcome of the present engagement at Guadalcanal,” says the Washington correspondent of the “New York Times.” “Informed quarters generally agree, however, that the engagement will probably be fought to a finish, and on it will depend the course of the war in the South-west Pacific for the next year. The Japanese are believed to have thrown in the bulk of their sea-power and air-power, while the forces of the United Nations are, not announced. Nevertheless, at present the American forces appear to be holding their own, specially in the air.” , , The Tokio • official radio repeated claims to a victory in the Solomons, qualified with a warning by naval quarters that the battle was still in progress and that, the final result therefore could not be foreseen. The naval commentator added: .“This is one of the greatest naval battles since the outbreak of war.”

STRESS ON REALISM Pacific Council Meets

WASHINGTON, October 28. At a meeting of the Pacific Council today President Roosevelt gave a realistic review of the whole situation in the South-west Pacific. Reporters later asked the New Zealand member, Mr. Nash, if the council was at all optimistic, and he replied, “No; the emphasis of the meeting was on realism rather than optimism.” The council also discussed the Middle East. Lord Halifax remained to lunch with Mr. Roosevelt and therefore was not available to the Press.