WAR ON JAPAN

Wairarapa Times-Age, 19 October 1943, Page 3

WAR ON JAPAN

TASK OF BRITISH MISSION NOW IN NEW ZEALAND. PREPARATIONS FOR ACTION ON GREAT SCALE. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) WELLINGTON, This Day. “In May last we in Great Britain saw that the end of the war with Germany was in sight and that Germany’s defeat was certain, and we did not want to be caught flat-footed in the war with Japan. That was the inception of this mission,” said Major-Gen-eral J. S. Lethbridge, who heads the special British Military, Naval and Air Mission which is visiting the Pacific theatre of war to study problems of the war against Japan. “It is an implementation of Mr Churchill s declaration that as soon as the war in Europe was brought to a successful conclusion every man, warship, plane and tank would be transferred to the Pacific for the successful conclusion of the war against Japan. “In its inception, the mission was purely British, but the United States wished to join in, and so there are four officers, one representing each of the main arms of the American forces, the navy, the army air force, the general staff and the infantry, attached to it. These are Captain Blick, U.S. Navy; Colonel Moore, U.S. Army Air Corps; Colonel C. de Ware, U.S. Staff; and Colonel R. Robbins, infantry. In addtion to the principal representatives of the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force, Rear-Admiral F. H. W. Goolden and Air Commodore L. L. Maclean, I have with me 27 officers and eight other ranks of the three British fighting services. “The things we are trying to cover are everything but strategy, which is the business of the Combined Chiefs of Staff and Intelligence,” Major-Gen-eral Lethbridge continued, “with particular emphasis on the best organisation for beating the Japanese and the organisation of the best weapons and equipment, and the best training. The latter is most important. Our Home forces have been trained in the methods of fighting most suited for the war against Germany, and there has to be a big re-orientation for the war against Japan. “There is not the slightest question but that after Germany has been beaten every man, weapon, plane and ship will be transferred to the ..Japanese theatre of war, and this will mean big changes,” he declared with considerable emphasis. “Men trained for desert warfare, for instance, think in terms of ranges of 2400 yards, compared with the 20 or 30 yards of jungle warfare.” “I am not going to prophesy when this war is going to end,” General Lethbridge observed, “but I will say that if we do not let up on Germany her end may be much closer than is ■realised. If we do let up, of course, the war against her might go on for a long while, but if we keep the heat up we’ve got her. It’s the last 15 minutes of the Rugby match which tells.” Members of the ritish mission met the War Cabinet yesterday, when a discussion was held extending over two hours. They were also the guests of the Government at a luncheon, over which the Minister of Finance, Mr Nash, presided. GREAT EXPANSION IN PACIFIC OPERATIONS. REAL WAR ONLY ABOUT TO BEGIN. (Special Australian Correspondent.) SYDNEY, October 18. “The presence of the Lethbridge Military Mission in the Southern Pacific is bad news for Japan,”' says the Sydney “Daily Telegraph” in an editorial today. “It foreshadows the transfer of British forces to the Battle of the Pacific.” The paper warns that the presence of British troops in the area will involve new heavy demands on Australian economy. More soldiers will have to be fed, facilities for reconditioning big air fleets must be provided, warships will have to be docked and repaired and the Commonwealth’s transport system will be more heavily taxed. “Those who believe that our maximum effort in this area is over must think again,” declares the “Telegraph.” “The real war against Japan is only about to begin. We did well when Japan was putting us on the spot. We will have to do better still to put the spot on Japan.”