SOLOMONS BID

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 20918, 19 October 1942, Page 3

SOLOMONS BID

SERIOUS ASSAULT JAPS. CLOSING IN U.S. PLANES HIT HARD TROOPS AND TRANSPORT (By Telegraph—Press Assn. —[Copyright.) (11 a.m.) NEW YORK, Oct. 19. EVer-growing Japanese naval forces are closing in on Guadalcanar Island. The scant word received from the ■island indicates that Japanese land, air and sea support nas placed the American, forces in a serious, if not critical, position, says the New York Times correspondent in Washington. Japanese bombing and artillery fire have apparently rendered Henderson airfield unusable. . , The Japanese have made a fresh landing on the south coast of the Guadalcanar area and are advancing over the mountains against the rear of- the American positions. The American land strength is not known accurately, but recent reinf6rcements of men and tanks are bolstering the United States Marines. One observer places the enemy land strength at 20,000, and says that the United. States forces are about equal. Although enemy ships were reported to be in the Solomons area three days ago, this is the second day in which aerial attacks on the Japanese vessels have- not been mentioned. The only possible conclusion, says the New York Tithes'correspondent at Washington is air strength has been kept, on! the ground by the destruction of ihlanes or of the aerodrome’s runways. .. /' Serious Enemy Assault The Navy Department states:. “Although large numbers of Japanese troops are known to be on Guadalcanar, there has been no full-scale fighting. Our- land, sea and air forces of'the Army, Navy and Marine Corps are engaged in meeting serious enemy assault, the outcome of which is still undecided. Our losses have been minor, but in a battle of this nature losses must be expected. “The following details of the action in recent days have been received. During an air attack on Guadalcanar after noon on October 12, three enemy bombers and five fighters were shot down. On the, night of October 15 enemy surface vessels‘bombarded our positions on Guadalcanar for about an hour. Naval aircraft made a night torpedo attack on a group of enemy vessels eastward of the Solomons. A torpedo hit on an enemy cruiser is reported. On the morning of October 16 our aircraft from Guadalcanar attacked the enemy troops’ position along the north-west coast of the Island. Late in the afternoon the

Navy and Marine Corps dive-bombers attacked two enemy transports and their accompanying destroyers in the area west of New Georgia Island. Direct hits damaged and set on fire one, transport and the second is believed to have been damaged by near misses. All information regarding the Solomons, which is not of value to the enemy, is being announced as soOn as possible after it is received.” The' Navy Department has not answered -questions regarding the activities of the American naval units. This means that either the navy is pursuing a course that has not yet matured, or that insufficient heavy ships are available to go to the aid of the ground troops. If Henderson field H is unusable, the nearest air base is Espiritu Santo, in the New Hebrides, 500 miles distant, too far for the operation of fighters and dive-bombers. The other alternative is to send planes from carriers, but it is not known whether sufficient carrier strength is available. A study of the recent communiques indicates that the Japanese have mustered a force northwards of the Solomons in the last two months far greater than was expected by those who planned the Marines’ expedition against Guadalcanar. Despite the losses of 40 ships and 265 planes, the Japanese have sent to Guadalcanar in ‘the last few days forces which are rapidly assuming the proportions of a . battle fleet. Minister’s --Hopes The defenders of Guadalcanar, aware that the force was being sent there, again tried to ward it off with the air power at their disposal, but were overwhelmed. The Marines defending Guadalcanar captured 40 American-built 75 ffi.m. guns recently. It is believed that the Japanese captured these guns in the Philippines. Tokio claims to have recaptured two important airfields 'in the Solomons, according to the Berlin radio. However, the Henderson airfield on Guadalcanar is stated here to be the only airfield in the American-occupied southern islands of the group. Asked' at his press conference if he thought the American positions in the Solomons could be held, the Secretary of the Navy, Colonel F. Knox, replied: “I certainly hope so—l expect so. 1 don’t want to make predictions, but every man out there, afloat and ashore, will give a good account of himself:” When a reporter asked if his statement, “I expect so,” was a prediction, Colonel Knox replied: “Don’t pin me ’’ down on to'a specific word. There is . nothing I can say beyond the information in the communiques. There is a real fight on out there. Of course, every American hopes we will win, but there is no concealing that we are in for a stiff, tough fight, and the result has not yet been determined.” The divided command would be largely to blame for any misfortunes suffered in the Solomons, declares the notoriously isolationist newspaper New York Daily News. - “Vice-Admiral R. Ghormley is responsible to the Commander-in-Chief of the United States Pacific Fleet, Admiral Chester Nimitz, 3000 miles distant at Hawaii,” the paper says.

“General MacArthur is reported to have ielt that the logical Allied move was northward through and around New Guinea, cleaning out the Japanese from Lae, Salamaua and Rabaul by land, sea and air drives to solidify Australia’s northern barrier and flank the Japanese position in the Solomons. Strong Support in Solomons “The Navy decided to attack the outer Solomons and their offensive, begun so encouragingly early in August, may have turned sour bv the middle of October. It does not take a professional soldier to realise that this kind of war is best waged under a single command, empowered to shift sea, land and air forces at any stage and fight unhampered by the rival commanders’ professional jealousy or army and navy etiquette." , ’ Allied aircraft of General MacArthur’s south-west Pacific command have been giving strong support to Vice-Admiral Ghormley’s forces in the

Solomons. x Fifteen tons of bombs were dropped in a Flying Fortress raid on the main Japanese southward base at Rabaul shortly before dawn on Saturday. Widespread damage is believed to have been caused, but the ’.details of this and other raids are lacking. i iv The aerodromes at Buka and Buin,

in the northern Solomons, have been .heavily attacked at night by large formations of bombers. At Buka many fifes were started and at Buin hits were scored on runways and among dispersed aircraft. ' The main purpose of these raids undoubtedly has been to neutralise Japanese air'strength in the Solomons .battle, but attacks against enemy shipping have also beer, made. At Buin and Shortland Island Allied offensive reconnaissance units bombed two large , Japanese transports. The results could hot be observed.