FORGES SPLIT

Wairarapa Times-Age, 24 August 1943, Page 3

FORGES SPLIT

JAPANESE IN THE PACIFIC VIEW OF UNITED STATES COMMANDER. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE FALL OF KISKA. (By Telegraph—Press Association— Copyright) NEW YORK, August 23. The fall of Kiska. the Japanese-held base in the Aleutians, has established Allied superiority in every way, and the Japanese are now on the run. This view is expressed by the Chief of the American Western Defence Command, Lieutenant-General John Dewitt, whose jurisdiction covers Kiska. Explaining that the occupation of Kiska cleared our shortest highway to Japan, General Dewitt said: "We today arc where the Japanese were when they struck at Pearl Harbour and swept down the South-West Pacific. Then we had to split our forces, and the Japanese taunted us: ‘Where is the United States Fleet?’ But we were finally able to make a stand at Midway, New Guinea, and Guadalcanal.

“Now we ask: ‘Where is the Japanese Fleet?’ The answer is that the Japanese Navy is hiding and dispersed —part on the ocean floor, part in the South Pacific to counter Admiral Halsey’s forces, part in home waters to meet the threats from Admiral Nimitz, and part in the North Pacific to counter Armiral Kinkaid’s potential threats. “It will be a long war, but Kiska has proved that the Japanese know when they are licked—and we now know that they will run. We do not knew how the evacuation was effected. The Japanese may have escaped by submarine. The American Navy sank several submarines which were attempting to run the blockade at night. It is also possible that the Japanese used barges, but as the nearest enemy base is Paramushiru, 900 miles away, their chances of survival would be slight.” CRITICAL ALLEGATIONS. Criticising the Navy for allowing the Japanese to get away from Kiska, Hanson Baldwin, in the “New York Times” says that the circumstances surrounding the evacuation "ought to make somebody's face red.” He adds: “The situation is not helped by the Navy’s naive statement that dense fog, bad weather, and the great area

of ocean to cover constituted a partial explanation of the enemy’s successful escape. Our great 'superiority in surface ships and aeroplanes should have yielded better results. There are indications that our aerial reconnaissance left much to be desired.” Mr Baldwin also criticised the Navy for withholding the news of the evacuation for three weeks. “It is obvious that the censorship is keeping from the American people many facts which they are entitled to know, and is covering up mistakes and inefficiency,” he writes. MIDGET SUBMARINES ABANDONED BY JAPANESE AT KISKA. (British Official Wireless.) (Received This Day, 10.45 a.m.) RUGBY, August 23. The United States Navy Department says United States and Canadian troops are continuing the occupation of positions in Kiska and the adjacent area. A landing has been made on Segula Island, about 20 miles east of Kiska. No Japanese were found. Three Japanese midget submarines, apparently damaged by demolition bombs, were found on a Japanese marine railway at the submarine base at Kiska. ANOTHER ISLAND OCCUPIED BY AMERICANS IN ALEUTIANS. LONDON, August 23. United States and Canadian troops have occupied another island in the Aleutians, 20 miles east of Kiska. They found no Japanese on the island.