SOLOMONS ISLANDS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 77, 28 August 1942, Page 5

SOLOMONS ISLANDS

STRATEGIC POSITION EMPHASISED Sydney, Aug. 27. “If the Allies can maintain their offensive in the Solomon Islands and push forward, the security of the South Pacific will be ensured.” said the leader of the Fighting French in the Pacific. Rear-Admiral d’Argenlieu, who has arrived in Sydney from New Caledonia on an official visit. He said he had discussed the war situation with Vice-Admiral Ghormley, and he believed that protection of the Solomons, which had such an important strategic position, meant also protection for the rest of the South Pacific, particularly New Caledonia. Rear-Admiral d’Argenlieu said he considered that the position in the Pacific war had improved to such an extent as to permit him to make his goodwill visit to Australia and New Zealand.

The Allied air chief in the SouthWest Pacific. Brigadier-General Royce, in an interview to-day with the San Francisco “Chronicle,” said: “Our boys in Australia feel they are getting good equipment, and they are not at all downhearted. At present the Japanese Zero fighter is superior in some ways to our fighter planes, but we know that this is being corrected, and we expect to have better planes than the Japanese very soon.”

He also that the navy action in the Solomon Islands was supported by the United States Army Air Force, and he declared that the Coral Sea Battle had proved that the Allied forces in the South-West Pacific were too strong for a Japanese invasion of Australia. —P.A. Australian Special Correspondent.