Another Hard Blow Dealt To Enemy At Milne Bay

Taranaki Daily News, 2 September 1942, Page 3

Another Hard Blow Dealt To Enemy At Milne Bay

Dangers were clearly seen by General MacArthur. Rec. 11.45 p.m. New York, Aug. 31. "The Japanese have taken another hard blow in the defeat at Milne Bay," says the New York Times in a leading article. "Their landing was an attempt partly to retrieve the expulsion from Tulagi by establishing a new bridgehead for a two- way offensive against Port Moresby and eventually Australia itself. Now they have lost the initiative in New Guinea area and the waters washing its eastern shore. A Japanese base at Milne Bay would command the approaches to Rabaul, threaten Torres Strait and menace Port Moresby, but General MacArthur . foresaw these strategic possibilities even more clearly than the enemy. When the Japanese landed troops and tanks on the beaches they were already surrounded by Australian veterans hidden in the undergrowth at the foot of the mountains. The invaders hoped to take advantage of the tropical storms which kept our planes away but they marched into the trap. "Yesterday Tokio . radio broadcast pleasant items about an art exhibition at the capital and a new Japanese swimming record but there lias been no reference to Milne Bay."