SERIOUS U.S. VIEW

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 20916, 16 October 1942, Page 3

SERIOUS U.S. VIEW

NEW ENEMY DRIVE SIGNS OF LARGE FLEET ALL-OUT ATTACK LIKELY (11.30 a.m.) , NEW YORK, Oct. 15. The seriousness, with which the Navy Department views the enemy’s latest manoeuvres in the Solomons is emphasised hy the speed with which the announcement was made, says the Washington correspondent of the Associated Press of America. The Japanese activities contained a grim, new significance not hitherto attached to their movements in the south-west Pacific. They have not previously succeeded in bombarding the airfield or main installations. Furthermore, the troops landed from transports were covered by naval units, meaning undoubtedly that not only men but artillery, in which they were previously deficient, were got ashore, and also supplies. The New York Times’ correspondent at Washington says it is possible that the renewed action lends some support to the foreign reports that a large Japanese fleet has moved into the south-west Pacific. The facts in the latest Navy Department communique, even without elaboration by official sources, indicate the possible necessity for recasting the hitherto optimistic view of the Solomons action if the Japanese are willing, as they seem to be, to expend all the force necessary and to make any sacrifice in an attempt to recapture Guadalcanar airfield.