HARD FIGHTING

Evening Star, Issue 24286, 29 August 1942, Page 5

HARD FIGHTING

THE MILNE BAY LANDING ENEiY OUTCLASSED IN AIR LONDON, August 28. In New Guinea hard fighting has developed following the Japanese landing at Milne Bay, and there is great, air activity throughout the ' f area. Our planes are machinegunning barges and bombing fuel dumps. The latest air battles have cost the Japanese 12 planes, while four more were either destroyed or damaged. One Allied fighter was lost. A 8.8. C. correspondent says that the Japanese are benig completely outclassed in the air. So far they have lost 29 fighters and two bombers. He adds that Allied bombers are. heavily attacking the Buna aerodrome, and that more than 20 Zero fighters were burnt out on the ground. Our land forces checked attempts by the enemy to move inland, and there is heavy fighting in the jungle, in spite of torrential rain. The Allied troops are experts in this class of country, and are fully armed for jungle warfare. The view was expressed in Washington to-day that the second phase of the Solomon Islands Battle had ended. No further naval actions have been recorded, and the main Japanese forces have left the Tulagi area. Naval circles assume that so far the battle has gone in favour of the Americans, but they recognise that the Japanese may launch a fresh attack very soon.

ENCOURAGING SURVEY

ALLIED HOLD IN PACIFIC

INTERIM CONCENTRATION ON GERMANY

NEW YORK, August 27. “ The Pacific situation is satisfactory in view of all the facts,” declared Mr Joseph C. Harsch, the ‘ Christian Science Monitor ’ correspondent, who recently returned from covering the war in the South-west Pacific. The front, he stated, was being held with not very substantial American assistance. • The Allies were a long way from beating Japan, however, and still faced a desperate fight until America was able to .divert major offensive strength to the Pacific. But we had retained our main positions and resisted enemy attempts to cut communications and seize lines of re-entry. The Japanese had not succeeded in shaking the Allied strategy of concentrating on Hitler while holding Japan. Mr Harsch’s chief reason for finding the Pacific situation satisfactory is that the Japanese have not been allowed to advance beyond the lines established by American military councils years ago. He reveals that before the attack on Pearl Harbour British, American, and Canadian forces were being moved in the Pacific into the buffer area between the American and the Japanese spheres, but the enemy moved too quickly to permit completion of the plan, and seized the Philippines after resistance almost exactly equal to Washington’s anticipations. “ The American leaders did not, however, expect the easv fall of Malaya and Singapore,” he said,

“ but London after the war may

reveal that it anticipated losses, and had intended to.withdraw the Malayan army from Singapore and defend Burma. The final disastrous attempt to defend Singapore cost 100,000 men. and may turn out to be an improvisation forced on London by the Australian Government.”

Mr Harsch believes that Java might have been held with 200 good fighters and 150 first-class bombers, but the Dutch possessed only a few obsolete planes purchased before the outbreak of the European War. They did not receive any lease-lend planes from America. These began to arrive in Australia only after the fall of Java Mr Harsch says Burma was pot a vital blow to the Allies, since Burma forms part of the no man’s land outside the vital Allied bastions He also sets out the full facts of the restricted American assistance in the South-west Pacific theatre. He confesses a sense of guilt that his despatches, like those of other American correspondents, emphasised the cheerful aspects of the war in the Pacific, and says he now offered the real facts by way of atonement. America. he says, was following the master strategy of concentrating her efforts on Europe, and the forces available for the Pacific ■ were extremely small for what had to be accomplished. Considering this, the success achieved had been magnificent.

ENEMY NAVAL FORGES

AVOIDING LAND-BASED BOMBERS

LONDON, August 28. A naval spokesman, discussing the withdrawal of the Japanese naval forces from Tulagi, expressed the view that the enemy battle fleet was hovering in the area north of Malaita awaiting a chance to engage the Allied forces qut of range of our land-based bombers. It was probable that the damage inflicted on Japanese aircraft carriers was the reason for the enemy’s failure tq continue the engagement. The naval spokesman added that the Japanese fleet had not been rendered impotent and that it might come again.

JAPANESE CLAIMS

NEW YORK, August 27

A Japanese Imperial headquarters communique broadcast from Tokio stated; “Japanese naval units on August 24 engaged United States naval reinforcements in the east Solomons. Imperial air units immediately attacked and inflicted heavy losses and repulsed the enemy. The results ascertained to August 27 are as follows: (1) Severe damage to one large aircraftcarrier of a new type; (2) damage to another carrier of medium size; (31 damage to a ba+tlp= T ’ ; p of the Pennsylvania type. The Japanese casualties comnrse the loss of mie destroyer aid damage to one small carr'er.” The engagement was ofimmllv designated the second battle of the Solomons. This ; s the first Axi° announcement since the new phase of the Solomons naval battle was begun, and the first word of a Japanese ship being sunk. While Un'ted States commnninues announced hits on at least 12 Japanese warships, including large and small aircraft-carriers, no claim of a sinking was made. There is no report from [Washington of United States losses.