Equipment And Mopping-Up

In New Guinea

(■Contributed by an AIF Officer) WHY all this fuss about lack of equip ment, and the so-called ‘’mopping up” in New Guinea and the Islands?

As a soldier who has just returned from the areas under discussion, and is looking forward to returning there in the near future, I think I know something about the conditions.

There is no lack of equipment for the soldier fighting in the field. As Senator Fraser has stated in his report, the shipping shortage is unavoidable and world-wide. If Australian unionists would only do a portion of their share of work, this deficiency would not be nearly so serious as it is.

As regards “mopping-up,” I think cer tain politicians are merely trying to bring the Government into disrepute by leading the electors to believe that the Government is sacrificing Australian lives through undertaking unnecessary opera tions. If it had not been for the residents of New Guinea and the Solomons, and for the natives whom they organised, the job of regaining those Territories would have been much more costly, and would have taken a much longer time than it actually did take.

Surely the European residents of the Territories and the natives are entitled to some appreciation of their efforts. And what better appreciation than to help them to finally clear the Japs out of their homes? All this talk of the by passed Japs not being a menace is dangerous complacency. They are culti vating the land and digging themselves in; in fact, making their homes there, and every month that they are left alone, not only strengthens their position, but also lowers our prestige in the sight of the natives.

It must be very encouraging to the by passed Japs and the Tokio war-lords to listen over the wireless to the internal strife in Australia over a matter which to their minds is not open to any argu ment at all. It is obvious to all intelli gent people, whether they* are Europeans, Asiatics or natives, that the Japs who have been by-passed must be exterminated as quickly as possible.

The Japs in the southern Philippines who have been by-passed are being “mopped-up" by the Americans with Philippine guerrilla assistance, and the Allies are assisting the French to “mop up” the by-passed Germans in various French ports.

Surely it is up to Australia to “mop-up” the by-passed Japs in her own Terri tories.

Australian soldiers have been spine bashing for a long period of the war, and should be employed doing something for their pay and for the taxpayers’ money. Also, any one can tell the poli ticians at Canberra that one of the worst things for a soldier’s morale is continual inactivity.

They have begun to do a job at last and are doing it well, at little cost to themselves and great cost to the enemy, and in spite of shipping shortages. So why try to call them off?

Another point that occurs to me is this: Do the people who are making all the fuss at present know what divisions are en gaged in this so-called “mopping-up,” and do they know what proportion of Australia’s fighting forces they represent?

If they do not know this, hoW are they to know that even greater Australian forces may even now be on the eve of undertaking some very much greater

operation? I think the matter should be left in the hands of the people who are doing the job, seeing that the electors put it into their hands by a large majority.