AIR DOMINATION

Wairarapa Times-Age, 14 April 1943, Page 4

AIR DOMINATION

VITAL TO THE ALLIES IN THE PACIFIC VIEWS OF SIR T. BLAMEY. FACTS NOT ADEQUATELY APPRECIATED. (By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright) (Received This Day, 12.10 p.m.) SYDNEY, This Day. “An immensely powerful Japanese air force and something like 200,000 troops threaten Australia from an arc of islands in the near north, General Sir Thomas Blarney, Commander-in-Chief of the Allied land forces in the SouthWest Pacific, told war correspondents in a special interview. “Unfortunately the enemy’s great capacity for concentrating his strength is not recognised by people in other parts of the world,” said General Blarney. I know they do not think the Japanese have so many aircraft; but we here know they have not yet finished the building up of the air superiority we have wrested from them. The violent air battles of the last two days are I the beginning of this struggle. The troops we have at our disposal are sufficient, if we can only get into contact \vith the enemy. I feel confident of our ability to handle the situation 1 — provided we have air domination. If, however, the Japanese can beat us completely in the air, then they can move very easily to the offensive. The result of the next few weeks of the air war will be of the greatest importance. I agree that the first need in this arc is more combat planes, to ensure that our present air control is not taken from us.” General Blarney said that in New Guinea the enemy’s clear intention was to fortify the entire coast, from Lae to Hollandia. Thus, if he lost any point, he would still have other important bases from which to operate. He had scores of airfields in the arc of positions from which he threatened Australia.

GREAT NAVAL FORCE MUST BE USED BY ENEMY. ’ OPINION OF COLONEL KNOX. (Received This Day, 12.35 p.m.) WASHINGTON, April 13. “A Japanese attack on Australia must be accompanied by a tremendous sea force, and there is no indication of that,”- Colonel Knox, Secretary for the Navy, told a Press conference. He was replying to General Sir T. Blarney. “It is known,” Colonel Knox added, “that the Japanese have strongly garrisoned a number of places in New Guinea, but it is impossible to determine whether the Japanese have built up strongpoints north of Austarlia for attack or defence.” Colonel Knox also said he did ■hot believe the Japanese had recently strengthened their positions in the North-Western Solomons. Commenting on last week’s 98 plane attack on Guadalcanal and Monday’s big raid on Port Moresby, Colonel Kuox said these simply indicated that the Japanese were stepping up their air activity. Questioned regarding Mr Churchill’s reiteration in the House of Commons that the Allies were more than holding their own against submarines in the Atlantic, Colonel Knox said: “Mr Churchill is entirely right. Sinkings were up in March, but in the average for six months we are more than holding our own.”