Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1941-12-29
Not Enough
Planes, Ships
Tell the Story
Allies Must Be Prepared
TO Lose, Far East
BY PAUL MALION

N fANlll4NAt w. lffNs y -
w Every one here knew what
Churchill meant when ne limited
there may be darker days ahead.
We must be prepared for the
loss Of the Far East Singapore,
the Philippines. Dutch East In
dies, and everything west of
Hawaii except Australia.
Every one also knows the rea-
son Neither We nor the British
had sufficient air or sea forces
on the job to~Warrant high hopes
Of immediate success. Nalor
cannot always substitute for
machines
When the first Jap bombers
came over Clark Field. Manila,
our pursuits took 10 the air
promptly. The Japs disappeared
without fighting. But our pur-
suit group was so small il could
not maintain a continuous for
mldable patrol IN the air.
The moment that the bulk Of
il landed for refueling. the Jap
bomberS were back a good
many, TOO many, of our ships
were destroyed on the ground.
DURSUIT ships could not be
flown out in quantities. Their
range Is too short, even for the
shortest land hops across from
South America 10 Africa and
India. But even if we had them
there, We would not have had
sufficient Philippine air fields.
Serious preparations for the
defense of LuZon were not I'M
dertaken until the Japs started
moving down the French-Indo
China coast acquiring bases on
the Philippine flank few
months back. The long rainy
season set in thereafter and
fields could not be adequately
prepared Just he season
ended the JapS struck.
But the m ain reason was
truthfully presented by Church
III. We concentrated all the
planes we could spare last sum-
mer in Libya for a victory that
Is now being won.
a redistribution of naval
forces is obviously necessary.
The British should have enough
OF their own capital ships 10
take care OF the Atlantic even
II the French fleet is betrayed
into Nazi hands. Perhaps this is
A primary subject of the RooSe-
velt-Churchill gathering.
COME congressman and other
~ politicians are afraid that if
or when this bad news contin-
ues to pile up the next few
months. our people Will get rest
less More congressional in
quiries and court-martialS may
be demanded. Confusion may
result.
That thought, Of course, is in
sultlng If this country has such
weak knees that il cannot stand
then We do not deserve
10 win If We have become so
soft and deCadent that we cam
not survive defeats, and come
out of them fighting better, we
might as we'll know it at the
start.
pEMEMBER this war broke
IL for us under the most in
suspicious circumstances, We
are fighting halfway around the
world from the homeland.
We are defending inadequate
outpoStS that most military
authorities knew could not be
made impregnable. (Some folks
are gruntlng now at congressman
who voted against Guam appro-
priations, whereas, If we had
built a Gibraltar there. it now
is evident we would have built
1t for the Japs)
Worse than that. the fall Of
the Far East may yet bring the
japanese back in force upon
Hawaii during the coming year.
If the japanese once get their
hands on Dutch oil and raw ma
terials they are going 10 be
more formidable. II will he diff
fiCult 10 fight our way hack Gin
1913" as Churchill says.
But the next time We GO. II
will be with superiority in air
and on the sea.
TODAY'S suggestion Of how
Il YOU can personally help 10
win this war (No. s.:
Remind any mourning doltS
that worthwhile nations grow
stronger in adversely SoftneSs
which comes with success is
what ruins them. Or. If he is
not worth wasting time in argu-
ment. Just tell him 10 60 buy a
defense bond
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Reproduction in whole m par,
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