NEW ENEMY LANDING

Dominion, Volume 36, Issue 35, 5 November 1942, Page 5

NEW ENEMY LANDING

U.S. Offensive Pressed On Guadalcanal SHIPS BOMBARD JAPANESE /' (By Telegraph.—Press Assn—Copyright.) (Received Nov. 4, 7 p.m.) WASHINGTON, November 3. The United States land forces on Guadalcanal Island yesterday pressed their offensive westward to the Matanikau River. Last night, however, the Japanese landed reinforcements on the island east of the American positions,’ reports the latest United States Navy communique. On Sunday night our dive-bombers continued attacks against the enemy on the northern end of Guadalcanal, while on Monday morning American destroyers shelled Japanese positions west of the Matanikau River.

“The seizure of the initiative by the American land forces is regarded as a highly important indication of a major change in the relative positions on Guadalcanal Island,” writes the Washington correspondent of the “New York Times.” “This aggressive action has constituted the first optimistic news of the land operations on Guadalcanal for several weeks. “Informed officials never doubted that the army and marines were capable of coping with the Japanese; however, there was grave question about the amount of supplies available for their use.

“Tlie new action indicates that since the naval engagement of a week ago, supplies have been moving freely to Guadalcanal and our other bases in the New Hebrides and Fiji. “The latest navy communique indicated that bombs, petrol, and all types of supplies have been built up in the American positions, enabling our troops to take the offensive for the first time. New Sea Clash Likely. “A naval spokesman, amplifying the communique, pointed out that the situation on Guadalcanal, Tulagi, and Florida, ultimately depends on whether the United States or Japanese fleets control the sea and the supply routes to the Solomons.

“It is expected here that the opposing naval forces will clash again in the near future, and that a decisive sea engagement will mark the ultimate disposal of Guadalcanal. However, our troops are expected to press their immediate advantage. They hold unquestioned air superiority, and a decisive victory over the Japanese land forces would make the problem for the Japanese much more difficult.” The Washington correspondent of the “Christian Science Monitor” says that an encouraging aspect of the Guadalcanal struggle which has not yet been publicized, is the fact that the American land forces in the Solomons are surprisingly large and have been reinforced by very sizeable additions.

The best-informed Pacific experts declare that the United States strength in the Pacific is sufficient to prolong the tenacious defence, even if no new supplies and troops arrive, the correspondent says. Hanson Baldwin, the “New York Times” commentator, states that the news from the South Pacific is encouraging. He recalls the remark of the marine commander, Major-General Vandegrift, in mid-September, when he was asked if he intended to hold the beach-head on Guadalcanal. He replied, “Hell, yes'. Why not?” Mr. Baldwin comments: “In the light of after events, Vandegrift’s answer was more than the bold words of a tough marine. It may well have been historic.”