THIRD ROUND

Wairarapa Times-Age, 20 November 1942, Page 4

THIRD ROUND

AWAITED IN PACIFIC NAVAL CONFLICT ADMIRAL HALSEY INTERVIEWED. PRIOR TO THE SOLOMONS BATTLE. (By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright) (Received This Day, 1.5 p.m.) SYDNEY, This Day. From an analysis of Japan’s crippling losses ■in the Solomons, United States naval experts deduce that the enemy will require at least three weeks to organise a further expedition against Guadalcanal. This delay is. held sufficient to give the United States ample time to replace its own relatively small losses and to be ready for the- third round of the battle. Meanwhile the main part of the battered Japanese forces is believed to have left the South-West Pacific ■ and withdrawn to the shelter of enemy bases in a mandated island. This places the vessels out of range of Allied bombers. Neither Australian nor American experts attach any special naval significance to the appearance of eight Japanese, destroyers off Buna, since the light task forces of the opposing fleets must be continually in operation throughout the South Pacific. It is expected that the next 24 hours will reveal the purpose of this force. Discussing the war against Japan with correspondents on Guadalcanal, Vice-Admiral Halsey said he considered that eventual victory would not be won without an invasion of the Japanese home islands, “and I want to be there,” he added. The interview was given on November 9, two days before the opening of the battle in which Admiral Halsey routed the enemy fleet in the Solomons. Admiral Halsey then predicted that the United States Navy in the near future would be able to prevent the Japanese reinforcing their troops on Guadalcanal. “Control of the seas isthe key to the Pacific situation,” he said, and he described the then existing naval situation as “fine from our point of view. But you can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs—and you can’t fight a naval war without losing ships.” Admiral Halsey declined to relegate battleships to the category of obsolete weapons. “The carrier is a great offensive weapon,” he said, “but the battleship still retains its role and will continue to play a decisive part in Pacific warfare—and I am an airman.” Admiral Halsey is regarded as America’s most air-minded admiral. He learned to pilot a plane eight years ago,' at the age of 52, and has long expressed the belief that victory in the Pacific will be won by the combined efforts of warships and warplanes.