The Evening Star. FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 19-42. THE FIGHTING AMERICANS.

Evening Star, Issue 24285, 28 August 1942, Page 2

The Evening Star. FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 19-42. THE FIGHTING AMERICANS.

Thk whole of Now Zealand will endorse the warm tributes which Mr Peter Fraser, .shortly after his Arrival m "Washington, paid to the American troops who have been sent to (to battle with the enemy in the Pacihc. Clearly the Prime Minister was inspired by something infinitely more concrete than the occasional demands of diplomatic usage. The fighting record of the United States forces from the time the first shot was fired in the Philippines to the latest heroic exploits in the Solomon Islands has been one of which any nation might well ho proud. Tt was the fault ol temporarily somnolent leadership rather than of the soldiers, sailors, ami airmen of the great western democracy that the Hawaiian defences were caught off guard, and, even so, there had been no reason to suspect that tho Japanese were planning to plumb the depths of deliberate treachery. Tho struggle in tho Philippines against overwhelming odds is already history, and tho greatest contribution possible at the time was made towards tho Allied efforts to save the Netherlands Indies. Success began to come tho way of tho Americans when their naval units played tho major role in .battering enemy warships in the Coral Sea, which, illustrating tho close guard kept on all areas in the. Pacific, was. later followed by another triumph off Midway Island. The climax to eight months’ of determined fighting came when tho famous _ United States Marines, whose qualities arc traditional, stormed the Southern Solomons, thus evoking the hope that the aggressors were being given a grim and irresistible order to “ about turn.” 'While all this has been _ going on American aviators in various other theatres of war have been revealing a like antitude to that of pur own airmen tor staging punishing bombing raids and for successfully meeting opposing fighter planes_ jn air combat. Tho volunteer group in Burma and .China made their weight felt from tho day their country was involved in the war, and the raid over Japanese cities led -by General Doolittle was an accomplishment that not only heralded, in encouraging fashion for the Allies, the big offensive action still to come, blit also, in the opinion of some strategists, caused Japan to alter her plan of campaign so as to provide more adequately for home defence. It this is so. it could iiot but have had the effect of slowing down the tempo of aggression. We in this part of the’world, who, while also taking pride in the calibre of our troops, have been worried oyer the paucity of their numbers, are fortunate in having by our side an ally who is so strong both in war production and in active service lemons. In spite of the sacrifices this Dominion has already made, it is easy to understand the thought that lay in tho mind of Parliament when, as recalled by Mr J. G. Coates, who has made an important statement on man power, it endorsed the War Cabinet’s decision to provide reinforcements for New Zealand troops, wherever they wight ho employed, and, if it is deemed essential, to supply New Zealand forces for any oilier theatre of war in which Now Zealand help might ho required. If the enemy can he met and defeated away from our own shores —and at the moment there, seems every_ chance that this can be done—tho civilians of tho Dominion will he spared hardships and clangers of a kind that would leave their mark on women and children as well as on men. Tho Press Association correspondent at a South Pacific port, moreover, convincingly draws attention to the fact that, as a result of United States commitments elsewhere than in the Pacific, the time must come when other countries in this area must take their part in the offensive plans. It Americans and New Zealanders ever fight side by side tho combination should he both harmonious and effective.