GRIP ON SOLOMONS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 17 September 1942, Page 4

GRIP ON SOLOMONS

TIGHTENED BY AMERICANS DECLARATION BY ADMIRAL NIMITZ. UNITED STATES MEANS TO DRIVE ON. (By Telegraph—Press Association —Copyright) (Received This Day. 12.45 p.m.) NEW YORK. September 16. “We are tightening our grip on the Solomons,” declared Admiral Nimitz, speaking at’Pearl Harbour. “The United States is planning to drive on without hesitation from the Solomons.” He added that American forces were stubbornly and successfully resisting powerful Japanese efforts to dislodge them from their hard-won positions in the South-Western Solomons. The American losses were disproportionately small compared with the enemy’s. A Navy spokesman in Washington, admitting that the Japanese had succeeded in bringing up some reinforcements. said: “There is no question that the Japanese are putting up a better fight now than they were.” The “Herald-Tribune” says the latest Navy communique reveals that the United States Air Force apparently is unable to blast the Japanese out of Solomon Islands waters. One of the most disturbing aspects of the Solomons fighting is the ability of Japanese surface vessels to shell American land positions night after night. Admiral Nimitz, in an address preceding the presentation of medals to officers and men of the Pacific Fleet aboard a warship in Pearl Harbour, revealed that the damage caused on December 7, 1941, at Pearl Harbour had been repaired far beyond expectations. LESS INTENSE BATTLE ON GUADALCANAL TWO JAPANESE CRUISERS DAMAGED. (By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright) LONDON, September 16. A Washington Navy Department communique reports a decrease in the intensity of the battle on Guadalcanar Island, in the Solomons. The American marines are holding the positions they won last month, including the vital airfield.

Aircraft based on Guadalcanar damaged tw;o' Japanese cruisers and set fire to Japanese shore installations on iSanta Ysabel Island.