Allied Air Forces Smash Japanese in New

Guinea and in Solomons

Enemy, Embarrassed by Lack of Air Protection, Retires in Papua and Hits Back in Solomons JT is becoming clear that, so far as the South Pacific zone is concerned, the turning-point in the war came in September. Since then, the Japanese have been increasingly on the defensive.

The South Pacific operations are in two sections—New Guinea and Solomons. They branch down from Rabaul—the western branch of operations extending south-west from Rabaul, through Gasmata, Lae and Salamaua to the Buna-Milne Bay region; and the eastern branch going down through the Northern Solomons and British Solomons into the Tulagi area. Events have gone this way:

New Guinea Area

JANUARY.—Japanese occupy Rabaul, and bomb Lae and Salamaua.

FEBRUARY. —Japanese occupy Gasmata, and bomb Samarai and Port Moresby.

MARCH. —Japanese occupy Lae and Salamaua, and bomb Buna.

APRlL.—Allies bomb Japs at Salamaua, Lae, Gasmata, Rabaul JUNE. —Heavy Jap raids on Port Moresby.

“Macdhui” sunk.

JULY.—Japs land in Gona-Buna area and advance to Kokoda.

AUGUST.—Jap attempt to occupy Milne Bay defeated; enemy force wiped out.

SEPTEMBER. —Japanese from Buna-Kokoda area "infiltrate” across Owen Stanley Range, via The Gap, while Australians retire. Jap lines, stretched out over 100 miles of jungle and mountain, between Owen Stanleys and Buna, are being ceaselessly pounded by Allies, who have clear air superiority.

OCTOBER.—Japs retire from Owen Stanley Range towards Kokoda. Australians follow up promptly, while Allied Air Force hammer Japs ceaselessly.

NOVEMBER. —Japs are driven out of Owen Stanleys and retire rapidly, and Australians occupy Kokoda. American forces occupy NE Papuan coast and approach Buna.

Solomons Area

JANUARY.—Japanese occupy Buka and Bougain ville and bomb Tulagi.

APRIL.—Japs occupy Faisi, BSI. Americans arrive in New Caledonia.

MAY.—Japs occupy Tulagi. Americans defeat Japs in Battle of Coral Sea.

JUNE-JULY.—Japs prepare strong bases in Buka, Bougainville, in northern British Solomons, and especially Tulagi.

AUGUST.—Americans re-occupy Tulagi-Guadal canala area, heavily defeating Japs.

SEPTEMBER. —Japs launching increasingly vio lent counter-attacks upon Americans in Tulagi-Guadalcanal area.

OCTOBER.—AII Jap bases and shipping from Rabaul, through Northern Solomons, to Tulagi, are being constantly blasted by Allied Air Forces, which have virtually driven Jap airmen from the skies.

OCTOBER.—Japs land strong land forces on Guadalcanal in attempt to drive out United States marines, but latter hold all their ground.

NOVEMBER. —Announced that large Jap naval force has been broken and has retired, near Stewart Islands, in Solomons; while all Jap bases and shipping, as far as Rabaul, have been heavily attacked by Allied aircraft.

An outline of what has been happening in both areas during the past month is given in the following article, which is part of an address broad cast on the Australian national radio by the Editor of the “PIM” on November 5: —

THIS air superiority of the United Nations (now being demonstrated in Europe and the Middle East) is now just as noticeable in a war theatre which is not so important as Egypt in relation to the global war —but which is very im portant to us. I refer to the South-west Pacific.

During the past few weeks, in both the New Guinea and Solomons areas, the United Nations have gained some rather notable victories —and, it is clear, from even the unembellished language of the official communiques, that our gains have all been made possible because of the Allies’ superiority over the Jap in the air, in both numbers of planes and in the quality of the men who fly them.

Every Japanese base, from Rabaul down the western fork, through Gasmata, Lae, Salamaua to Buna, and down through the eastern fork, through Buka, Bougain ville and the British Solomons —every Jap base has been battered and blasted by Allied airmen in a way that no one would have dared to think possible six months ago.

The enemy still is most anxious to maintain his southwards thrust, at the heart of our South Pacific defences; but although he has all the troops and the armoured forces and the warships which he may appear to need, he cannot carry out his plans because he is being un mercifully thrashed from the air. Every day and every night, in increasing num

bers, our airmen are smashing up his bases and his shipping concentrations— and day by day and month by month our superiority in that respect is grow ing. And the Jap is being outbuilt —he cannot regain the mastery of the air.

These Japanese airmen are very brave and skilful —but neither in courage nor skill are they the equal of the men of the Allied Air Forces. Our men, I think, will be described by the historian of the future as the finest fighting airmen ever seen, up to this time. That gallant band of RAF fighters, who saved Britain and civilisation in the autumn of 1940, estab lished a magnificent tradition, which is being as worthily upheld by the United States and Australian airmen now guard ing the northern and north-eastern shores of Australia as it is by the grow ing thousands of United Nations airmen now hammering the Huns in Europe and Africa.

TO see what our growing air power is accomplishing here, it is worth look ing over the New Guinea and the Solomons operations in retrospect. When the Japanese landed at Buna, and so quickly marched up to Kokoda, and across the Owen Stanley Range, almost within sight of Port Moresby, there naturally was much anxiety in Australia.

There would have been more anxiety if it had been realised that this was only part of an operation against Port Moresby.

The other part was seen at Milne Bay.

While the Jap’s right arm was thrusting across the ranges, he was trying to swing his left arm around through Milne Bay, under our guard, to simultaneously attack Port Moresby along the southern coast.

Undoubtedly, the Allied High Command foresaw the Milne Bay move, and every one knows what happened—the Jap ex pedition which landed there was com pletely wiped out.

I may be wrong—but I am one who believes that our commanders also fore saw the Owen Stanley position. They knew that pur men could not make much of a showing against the Japanese at Kokoda if they had to drag all their supplies and equipment across the moun tains and through the Gap—and so they withdrew to the southern side of the ranges and presented the transport prob lem to the Japanese. Considering the extraordinary difficulty of the terrain, the Japanese made an exceedingly strong demonstration on the mountain tops—but everything happened as our High Com mand had foreseen.

Soaked by continuous rains, bogged in the endless mud of the mountain tracks, their supply lines smashed and dis organised every day by Allied air superiority, their general plan of attack crippled by their defeat at Milne Bay, the Japanese gave it up, and retired quickly to Kokoda, and beyond. It has been apparent, for weeks, that they could do nothing else.

But I do not think they intended to retire altogether from this region and abandon the Buna coastline. I was one who expected them to hold the line of the Kumusi River—that great gorge be tween Kokoda and Buna, crossed by the Wairopi Bridge. The recent attempt to land reinforcements at Buna clearly shows that the enemy entertained some such plan. But our airmen caught his reinforcements on the high seas, between New Britain and New Guinea, and smashed the convoy to pieces.

Now, if one gets all this into perspective, one will see that we have beaten the Jap in all these operations mainly be cause of air power. By effective use of air power, our commanders set a trap for him in Milne Bay. Using air power, they forbade the Jap the use of the good airfield at Kokoda, forcing him to drag everything along the Kokoda-Buna track —and then Allied planes ceaselessly at tacked the Kokoda-Buna track and the Buna base. This week, again making most effective use of their air power, they utterly defeated the enemy’s attempt to land powerful reinforcements at Buna.

Air power should permit the Allies to use the Kokoda airfield, thus cutting out that weary drag over the mountain range.

THERE is a similarly encouraging story to be told in relation to the Solomons. The enemy is most anxious to regain the Tulagi area. Its possession appears vital to all his plans directed against our South Pacific de fences. The course of the Solomon Islands battle—which has been going on now for three months —is necessarily obscure. But it is clear that the Japanese, up to date, have been decisively defeated by the Americans, and that the decisive factor has been Allied air power.

The Japs were thrown out of the Tulagi area within a few days, in early August, Ever since then the Japanese have been bringing up naval and military forces, which have been met and held or driven back by the United States navy and the United States marines.

Those Japanese attacks have been ex ceedingly strong and violent, and there was a period when it was feared they might regain some of their lost positions.

But the Allies found the enemy & Achilles heel. The enemy based his operations on a line of fortified ports

extending back to Rabaul—especially Faisi and other places in the British Solomons, and Buin, Kieta and Kessa, in Northern Solomons. In September and October, with increasing severity, and in the face of decreasing Japan resistance, American aircraft from the Southern Solomons area, and Allied aircraft from the New Guinea and Australian area bombed all those places, including Rabaul.

As a result, our Allies still hold the vital Solomons area, and the backbone of the Japanese attack against them has been shattered. The story might have been different, had it not been for Allied air power.

Neither the general position nor the prospect is discouraging. We appear now to have the measure of the Jap. We have virtually beaten him out of the air. We can beat him on the sea. Our troops— even in that cultivated Japanese art of jungle-sneaking—are definitely better than his. But he is far from being a beaten enemy. Hard and bitter fighting lies ahead. He is no longer the jubilant Jap of January, who smashed his way so confidently into New Guinea, but he will fight on, just as savagely and merci lessly. The beast of prey is never so dangerous as when he finds that he is cornered.