The Dominion. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 1942. HIGH COMMAND IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC

Dominion, Volume 36, Issue 37, 7 November 1942, Page 6

The Dominion. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 1942. HIGH COMMAND IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC

Careful reading of this morning’s published statement by the General Officer Commanding (Lieutenant-General Puttick) should enable the public to understand more clearly the relationship established between the New Zealand Forces and t]ie United States Command in the South Pacific Area. It will be seen that the arrangement does not mean—as some people may'have taken it to mean—a transfer of the authority exercised by the Government and the Chiefs of Staff over o.ur manpower and the fighting Services. Rather does it involve New Zealand's preparedness to enact her role as a unit-nation in the Pacific struggle under the direction of American high command —this, together with our acceptance of advice and assistance in certain matters relating to military training. In the circumstances, such a policy is simply one of common sense. As Lieutenant-General Puttick has pointed out, the United States Command is handling the Pacific situation as a whole, and the Commander in the South Pacific Area is thus “in the best position to weigh up the various considerations.” It follows then that:— He is thus in a position to make requests to the New Zealand Government for forces to be employed in the area, basing his requests on the general military situation. • rSeemingly, when .such requests are made it remains for the Government to decide, after reviewing all the factors in this country, whether the requests shall be acceded to. But it will be guided, so far as the all-important factors of Pacific strategy are concerned, by the advice of the United States Command. Moreover, it goes without saying that every co-operative effort will doubtless be made, within the safe limits of our national capacity, to meet the needs of our Allies A particularly interesting reference is made by Lieutenant-General Puttick to American advice and assistance in the training of New Zealand troops for tasks which might involve co-operation with the United States forces. This is to be welcomed as a possible means of superimposing upon our own military training methods such improvements as may be suggested by American technical efficiency and organizing experience. Every opportunity of this kind .should be eagerlv grasped. We have made substantial, and in many ways remarkable progress in large-scale military training, but it would be foolish to suppose that the system is incapable of improvement. Indeed, of late we have appeared to have passed through a stage of developmental lag in which facilities have failed to keep pace with Army expansion, with the result that training in outlying districts, as distinct from the main camps, has been inadequate, and in some instances a certain measure of slackness appears to have grown up.