JAPANESE ERRORS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 20 August 1943, Page 3

JAPANESE ERRORS

STRATEGY IN THE PACIFIC MORTAL MISTAKES. ENEMY NOW FACING BIG HANDICAPS. (By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright) NEW YORK, August 19. A high ranking war plans officer of the Pacific Fleet told the North American Newspaper Alliance war correspondent Ira Wolfert that the Japanese committed a “mortal error" when they attacked Hawaii and the Philippines at the outset of the war. He explained that if the Japanese had by-passed the United States entirely they might have gone down the Pacific all the way, via Oceania, and perhaps taken Australia and New Zealand “while we spent the war fighting the isolationists. Then with these bases consolidated over a period of years, the Japanese could have taken whatever they wanted including Hawaii and even the Panama Canal and we would have lost the war forever.” Experienced American naval officers do not understand why the Japanese did not invade Hawaii instead of merely raiding Pearl Harbour. They explain that, even if unable to hold the island, the Japanese could have wrecked military installations and made Hawaii useless to the Allied war effort for years. A third error which experts regard as fatal is the Japanese invasion of the Aleutians without sufI ficient forces to roll on to Alaska. The correspondent adds that the most costly Japanese error was their over-estimation of the element of mobility in aircraft construction. In ordeito make aircraft lighter, and hence more manoeuvrable, the Japanese added too much riiagnesium to their alloys thus making their machines almost as vunerable as gasoline-soaked papers. A very significant feature of this error is the apparent incapacity of the Japanese to change the constructional designs of their aircraft. Developing the thesis that Japan is incapable of waging a first-class war, Mr Wolfert says that the Pacific campaigns show that the Japanese do not possess road-building gear, or ships to carry such heavy equipment as would enable them to work and fight effectively in terrain hostile to wheeled vehicles. “We build roads as we fight,’’ writes Mr Wolfert. “Our bulldozers land with the first Avaves of troops, and our engineers and construction battalions ride with the infantry against the enemy.” ALLIED MOVES AMERICANS BUILDING CHAIN OF AIR BASES. THREAT TO ENTIRE ENEMY LINE (By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright) (Received This Day, 9.20 a.m.) NEW YORK, August 19. A clear summary of the Allied strategy in the Southern Pacific has been given by General Hamon’s Assistant Chief of Staff, Colonel Laurence Sherman, who has just returned from the combat area. Colonel Sherman told a “New York Times” correspondent that the Americans are building up a chain of air bases, threatening the entire Japanese New Guinea-Rabaul defence line. The American occupation of Vella Lavella Island, by bypassing Kolombangara, might be very costly for the Japanese, whose dwindling air stength would be further split by the smashing air blows against Wewak. After the capture of Munda it was generally assumed that General MacArthur would strike against Vila on Kolombangara, across the narrow waters of the Kula Gulf. The Japanese therefore reinforced Vila. But instead of hurling troops against Vila, whose only feasible land approach was covered by Japanese guns, General MacArthur seized Vella Lavella, almost without a fight and was now in a position to choke off enemy reinfocements both to Kolombangara and New Georgia. The Japanese, who customarily built inferior coral-surfaced airfields on the islands, had not constructed an airfield on Vella Lavella but the Americans, who lay steel mats, will certainly build a fighter strip on their new acquisition. The Munda airfield was already in operation and would afford fighter protection for our bombers, based on Guadalcanal, attacking the entire Bougainville area, where the Japanese are constructing four or five new aerodromes. Fighters could also protect our bombers attacking Rabaul, which is the crucial anchor of the Japanese defence line. Hinting at further Allied departures from island hopping warfare, Mr Sherman said the enemy base at Rekata Bay might be “another bypass proposition.” He added that the air victory at Wewak had practically knocked out the known Japanese air strength in that area and henceforth the depleted enemy air force in the New Britain—New Ireland sector must divide in an effort to protect the New Guinea bases.