BROAD SURVEY

Wairarapa Times-Age, 13 February 1943, Page 3

BROAD SURVEY

OF THE GUADALCANAL CAMPAIGN AMERICAN OFFICIAL STATEMENTS. SOME JAPANESE CLAIMS DISCOUNTED. (By Telegraph-Press Association—Copyright) WASHINGTON, February 11. Operations are still progressing in the south Pacific, of which the full facts cannot be revealed at present, declares America’s Director of War Information, Mr. Elmer Davis. He discounted Japanese claims to have evacuated large numbers of troops from Guadalcanal.

Enemy claims of heavy damage to the Allied fleet were fantastically exaggerated. In the last fortnight of January two American Army divisions on Guadalcanal killed 4000 Japanese and took more than 100 prisoners. American losses were 198 killed, 398 wounded and five missing. These facts were revealed today by the War Secretary, Mr. Stimson, who said that the United States victory was hastened by the flanking movement in which troops were taken by boat around the island under naval escort and landed on the north-western tip. They then marched overland and caught the Japanese in a narrow strip of beach 15 miles long. The enemy resisted with great tenacity before being overcome. At the beginning of the struggle for Guadalcanal, Japanese naval action prevented steady supplies reaching United States forces on the island. Relief of the marines was thus delayed till a series of brilliant naval actions had made it possible to land men and supplies. Major-General Patch, United States Army commander on Guadalcanal, reports that the Japanese succeeded in withdrawing some troops in destroyers, but their remaining forces are scattered. HIGHLY USEFUL BASE. ‘‘The United States intends to hold Guadalcanal as a highly useful forward base,” stated Colonel Knox, at a Press, conference. “Of course, the islands will' be used in our. progress towards the enemy’s homeland, but we have never contemplated progress toward Tokio as an island to island affair.” Colonel Knox added that nothing dramatic or important had occurred in the current naval operations which were still continuing. Munda, New Georgia, is believed to be the next American objective in the South Pacific campaign. War commentators emphasise that the enemy evacuation of. Guadalcanal has not materially changed the situation in the area. It is pointed out that the development of Munda and Kolonbangara, despite incessant Allied bombing, provides all that Guadalcanal and Tulagi formerly provided for’the Japanese, namely, sea and air bases. With Reketa Bay and Santa Ysabel Island the Japanese have fitted a fresh keystone into the south-eastern corner of the Solomons, so that the strategic picture is much as it was before Guadalcanal was evacuated. ENEMY TOTALLY DEFEATED. “Six months and two days after the American invasion the Japanese have been eliminated from Guadalcanal. The Japanese Seventeenth Army has been totally defeated and destroyed, thus ending the bitter struggle for the control of this strategic Solomon Islands air base,” a United States Navy Department communique states. General Patch said: “It was extremely difficult to count the number of enemy dead because of the difficulty of finding bodies. However, it is estimated that 20,000 Japanese were killed in land action on Guadalcanal since the Americans landed. A few Japanese, mostly reserve supply troops, are believed to be still hiding in the island’s jungle hills, but little difficulty is expected in mopping up these remnants. “This was a campaign of destruction by ground forces supported by powerful artillery,’ ’declared General Patch. “It was a matter of digging them out of the jungles and hills—man against man.”

Victory came as a result of a tremendous encircling movement over extremely difficult terrain which the enemy did not think the Americans could cross. They apparently expected a total drive from the east along the coast and then inland, but after the capture of Mount Austen, which was heroically taken in a bitter battle, the army forces drove to the south-west in an encircling movement which was begun on January 10. This was the beginning of the end for the Japanese. The Americans then pushed over the hills and through the jungles and ravines and captured Kokumbona on January 24. Kokumbona is on the coast, where the coastline turns north-west to Cape Esperance,and was the principal enemy supply and bivouac area. The capture of Kokumbona sealed the doom of the Japanese, and afterwards organised resistance was sporadic. SOME SIDELIGHTS JAPANESE BADLY DECEIVED. AT TIME OF AMERICAN LANDING. (By Telegraph—Press Association —Copyright) (Received This Day, 10.10 a.m.) WASHINGTON. February 12. A Philadelphia message states that Ma-jor-General Vandergrift said the Japanese lost 30,000 men in a single landing attempt at Guadalcanal. He added: “The Japanese aro very tenacious and either do or die. After several months' campaigning, we took only 560 prisoners.” He revealed that not one man was lost jn the initial American landing on Guadalcanal. “The Japanese,” he said, “thought it was a raid, and. carrying out orders, retired to the mountains until they saw the ships leave. When they came down we were sitting on Henderson Field.” ENEMY TROOPS DESERTED BY NEARLY ALL HIGH OFFICERS. (Received This Day, 10.10 a.m.) WASHINGTON, February 12. In a despatch from a South Pacific base, the American Press correspondent, Mr Harmon. disclosed that 2,000 Japanese including virtually every high officer, were evacuated from Guadalcanal a week prior to the complete American capture of the island. He added: “We do not know of any senior officers who were captured when General Patch’s pincers closed on February 9.” FURTHER RAIDS ON MUNDA AND OTHER BASES. LONDON, February 12. In the Solomons, United States aircraft have again attacked the Japanese base at Munda, New Georgia. Other planes also raided enemy positions on Kolombangara and started large fires there. One enemy plane was shot down.