SOME UNCERTAINTY

Wairarapa Times-Age, 2 April 1942, Page 3

SOME UNCERTAINTY

REGARDING REINFORCEMENT OF AUSTRALIA REPORTED IN WASHINGTON. SCOPE OF MACARUTHUR’S COMMAND. (By Telegraph—Press Association —Copyright) NEW YORK, March 31. There are indications that even the establishment of the Pacific War Council has not convinced certain circles in Washington that the United Nations are now determined to make the Australian area a key theatre of war. The Washington correspondent of the “New York News” says: “There is a definite feeling among Australians and New Zealanders in Washington that their victory may be only on the surface. With good reason they suspect that a vital point at issue—the power to determine the amount of men and munitions to be furnished to Gen- ’ eral MacArthur in contract to the number of men to be sent to Russia or the Middle East—will continue to rest on the decisions of President Roosevelt and Mr Churchill. “The Australian and New Zealand leaders have made no bones about proclaiming their dissatisfaction with the existing group in London which has directed Britain’s battle in the Pacific through the defeats of Hong Kong, Singapore and Java.” Mr Roosevelt at a Press conference today reaffirmed that General MacArthur is supreme commander of all the Allied warships in the Pacific theatre of war as well as chief of the United Nations’ land troops and air forces,in the Far East. His declaration has put a prompt quietus on cabled reports from General MacArthur’s Australian headquarters which indicated that the General’s authority over the naval units had been challenged by the Allied admirals in the Pacific area. Mr Roosevelt strengthened General MacArthur’s hand after a reporter read him a censor-cleared dispatch

& from Australia stating: “General Mac- £ Arthur still faces perplexing problems ’ w i n forming his supreme command, and one of the major problems that must be solved in order to achieve complete unity and authority has pivoted on the issue that the American leader's command does not govern the Allied naval forces.” Mr Roosevelt declared it was the first time he had heard of the question. He then asserted emphatically that General MacArthur is supreme commander within his particular area, and this means that he is in command of the air, naval and land forces. Questioned as to whether there, is any prospect of Australia and New Zealand being represented on the Munitions Assignment Board, whose membership is now limited to British and Americans, Mr Roosevelt replied in the negative . The munitions agreement, he said, would be carried out in good faith for all nations in accordance with the policies arrived at by their consultative bodies.