THE SOLOMONS BATTLE

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 77, 21 October 1942, Page 5

THE SOLOMONS BATTLE

'Still a Stiff, Hard Fight" SUDDEN REAPPEARANCE OF U S. WARSHIPS (Rec. 9.5 5 a.m.) Washington, Oct. 20. Colonel Knox, Secretary of the Navy, told a Press conference that the Solomons is still a good stiff, hard fight. “In my judgment the Japanese have by no means as yet exercised their maximum force."’ He said he had nothing to add to the most recent communique announcing the sudden reappearance of American warships in the Solomons. He said communiques were being issued as rapidly as information was received. Colonel Knox indicated that land-based aeroplanes will play a much greater part in naval activity in the Solomons. Asked if he would comment upon the number of planes, he replied that such information could not be disclosed, but he could say that the number of land-based planes used by the Navy was steadily increasing. Colonel Knox praised the Office of War Information report on the performance of American planes and said it was extremely well done.

WIDE REPERCUSSIONS

ATTACK ON GU AD ALCAN Alt VIEWS OF MILITARY ANALYST New York, Oct. 20. “The Japanese attack on Guadalcanal- must be considered against the background of the war in the whole Pacific theatre,” says the “HeraldTribune's” military analyst. Major Fielding Eliot. “Very great issues depend on the outcome of the fight for the airfield and one small island. If the Japanese were successful, they would reap great advantages. “1. They would regain considerable freedom of action in the immediate Solomons area, for we would then be forced to retreat to our nearest air base in the New Hebrides. “2. The Japanese operations in New

Guinea would be aided, by the ability to concentrate larger forces there. “3. The Japanese would be enabled to detach naval and air forces for an assault on our great trans-Pacific line of communications on which the security of Australia largely depends. AIR POWER “In estimating the effect of the Pacific operations the factor of air power is, perhaps, the most important. The effective use the Japanese have made of their rather limited air force has given us an exaggerated idea of the Japanese air power, and certainly some published statements of the Japanese plane production far exceed the facts. “Japan’s planes are divided between the army and navy. Admiral Hart recently noted that all the Japanese planes encountered round the south China Sea were navy planes, and the same thing is probably true in the Solomons. This suggests that the navy has the first call on Japanese plane production. ‘‘Thus the fighting in the Solomons affects a Japanese attack against Siberia, since the army obivously could not hope for a successful campaign against the Russians without sufficient planes, but if the Japanese regain Guadalcanar they could release planes for the army on the Siberian frontier. “Therefore, the influence of the fighting on Guadalcanar may be felt in Moscow, and perhaps on the borders of India. This is indeed a global war.” —P.A.