The Waterbury Democrat., 1942-03-18
Allied Forces Massed Under Gen. MacArthur
Ccontinued from. Page l,

airsady overshadows its Australian counterpart.
 Take Charge at Once
 MacArthur Is expected to take ac- tive charge immediately after Q ehort rest to recover from his long air Journey and the strain of three months of fighting in the Philip pines.
 His staff officers already have started consultations at United states army headquarters, where the supreme commander will later direct what officers described as staggering" plans for counter action against the enemy. Prime Minister John Curtin, who originally suggested to Washington the appointment of Macarthur as commander, emphasized the opinion generally held here that the United Nations would now make Australia their main South Pacific base to be held at all costs and to be used aS e base from which the Japanese would be rolled back in the future,
 But the new command also has smoothed out many technical prob- lems, military sources pointed out It has unified ali American, Aus tralian and Dutch land and air forces in the southwest Pacific and avoided any difficulty arising from the fact that the United States army air corps has been under one command and the Australian air force under an Independent com mand.
 sAll along the northern fringe of this great continent, the American planes have been flying out with tne Australians from secret bases to fight the Japanese in the sklrmishes preliminary to the battle of Austra- Na.
 Yankee Planes In Action
 These are but the advanced units of the United States flying corps but they offer evidence, until now kept secret, that the American fighting forces are already fully engaged in the first task of seeur- ing the defenseS of Australia until fnrther endorsements arrive.
 Ut was announced that Gen. Mac- Arthur, fresh from his historic stand iu the Bataan peninsula, had arrived in Australia yesterday to assume hiS new command.
 Prime minister John Curtin an- Elounced to q wildly enthusiastic country the appointment of Mac Arthur as commander in chief, the appointment of Lieut.. Gen. George H. Brett, United States Army, as deputy supreme commander and chief of allied southwest Pacific air forces, and the presence in Australia of big American ground forces.
 -.Air Minister s. Drakeford an- nounced the arrival of more Ameri- Ca1 war planes.
 -ClOoely following these came the first announcement by United states army headquarters in Aus tfalia, awarding the distinguished flying cross to three American air fUrcO heroes of the southwest Pa- ctic war.
 ~Brstt, acting as chief of United Htatas army forces, as distinct from allied forces, announced the flying 0goss awards to Lieut.. Col. Emmett CDonnell, Jr, New York; Capt, Harry B. dalusha and First Lieut.. Jaililis D. Summers, Jr., Tennessee Heavy Bombing Tuesday
 Tt was believed that the newly arrived American planes had taken rArt in 6 heavy bombing yesterday @ Koepang, Japanese base In the Dutch part of Timor Island $50 EsiieS weSt-northwest of Darwin the &eat Australian north coast base. A.Announcemen that air raid alarms Yesterday ct Darwin and Ports Moresby, on the New Guinea coast 80 miles northeast of Australia, ended without the sighting of Japa- 5iese planes and indicated that Am eTican fighter planes might have sided in driving of enemy fornia- Mons.
 ~There were reports also that Japanese planes had suffered heavily 1n recent days ih the New Guinea end Torres Strait zone northwest of Australia.
 Well informed Australian sources expressed conviction that MacAr- -.