ENEMY HOLD

Wairarapa Times-Age, 19 August 1942, Page 3

ENEMY HOLD

ON SOUTHEASTERN ISLANDS BELIEVED TO HAVE BEEN BROKEN ALLIES USING CAPTURED AIR BASES. (Special Australian Correspondent.) SYDNEY, August 18. Japan’s hold on all the islands in the south-east Solomons is believed to have been broken. The latest reports indicate that the Allies are now using captured air bases in the islands. It is understood that no Australianbased bombers have taken part in the Solomons offensive since last Wednesday. This suggests that the Allies now control sufficient islands to provide close air support. A Washington estimate says that 5000 square miles, more than one-third of the total area of the Solomons, is now under the control of the Allied forces. The important Tulagi harbour area is grimly held by American marines, while Allied entrenchments on the other islands grow stronger daily. It is reported from Hawaii, headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, that there is an expectant air that the Solomons battle will soon end in victory. A Washington report says the Allied air reinforcements arriving at captured bases in the Solomons are purely for defensive purposes to fight off Japanese counter-thrusts, but will also carry the offensive northward. Resistance is expected to continue on the larger islands in the south-east Solomons from enemy detachments which escaped into the jungles and the mountains. Some American observers say the Solomons attack .is merely the forerunner of a tremendous Allied Pacific push. The Allies intend to fortify the Solomons strongly, turning them into a “Gibraltar of the South-West Pacific.” It is pointed out that the Japanese still possess air bases in the northern Solomons and that they will be able to keep up raids on the Allied positions.