MORE PLANES

Wairarapa Times-Age, 15 March 1943, Page 4

MORE PLANES

WANTED BY GENERAL MACARTHUR GENERAL KENNEY’S VISIT TO WASHINGTON. OPINIONS OF COMMENTATORS. (By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright) (Received This Day. 12.25 p.m.) WASHINGTON, March 14. General MacArthur sent his air chief, Lieutenant-General Kenney, to Washington to present the case fcr greater air striking power in the Southern Pacific theatre of war, experts believe. News of the arrival of General Kenney, Comman-der-In-Chief of the Allied Air Forces in the South-west Pacific, leaked out, despite official secrecy, but the Washington correspondent of the “New York Times” declares that it is no secret that General MacArthur wants mere planes. The correspondent writes: “General MacArthur wants bombers and fighters in greater numbers than he is now getting them, and he wants them as intensely as the Russians want a second front. General MacArthur denies that the Bismarck Sea victory of a fortnight ago is a proof of Allied quantitative air superiority.” Mr Edwin James, managing editor of the “New York Times,” says General MacArthur may not get all the planes he wants, because Washington believes that Europe is the most important battlefield this year. But he points out the vital need for long-range, heavy bombers to maintain attacks on Rabaul. which is outside the range of lighter aircraft. “The Allied bases in the Pacific must be guaranteed," writes Mr James. “If we risk losing Australia we risk crippling ourselves immensely in the Pacific battle, which is bound to assume major proportions sooner or later. It is not expected that General Kenney will return to the Pacific empty-handed.”