Evening star., 1942-02-13
BY ROBERT J. CASEY,

| ~~~ e"~'s~' WV
Islands.
BY ROBERT J. CASEY,
Foreisn Corhespondsnt Of The star and
| Chicago Daily News.
WITH THE PACIFIC FLEET AT
SEA, Feb. lon the horizon be-
hind US the Wolfe Island naval base
Is still afire as 1t probably will be
for days. q pillar Of smoke by day
and q pillar of flre by night.
The tally Of the United States
Fleets catastrophe blitz against the
japanese sea forts In the Soushwest
Pacific is just about complete ard
probably by now the home folks are
finding out something of what hap
pened to the impregnable Gilberts
and Marshalls.
1t is not 4 pretty mess that some
Jap naval observer is having set up
among the blasted coral reefs Of the
mandated islands. The Son Of
Heavens first line Of bases in this
part of the world has disintegrated
under one swift smash by . lot Of
boats that his stooses told him were
on the bottom. His advance guards,
submarines and airplanes. have been
pushed back 1000 miles to shelters,
depots and repair stations in the
Carolines with no guarantee that
the same lightning may not strike
there tomorrow.
Fleet Loose Once More.
The feet, virtually unscathed, once
more is loose beyond the range Of
japanese scout planes in an area
where 1t would be suicide for an
enemy submarine to lift its periscope.
It has come far enough to permit
the release Of some details OF what
Is the wars most perfectly timed
and possibly most far-reaching-if
not most spectacular-naval opera
ton. It remains close enough to
be the menace that Japan. before
Pearl Harbor, always expected 1t
would be.
At daybreak on the morning Of
February /, one Of the largest and
fastest striking forces assembled for
an active job In this war came
abreast Of the japanese bases In that
mysterious bourne where no foreign
naval vessels and few ships OF any
other sort had been permitted to
travel since Toxic took over the
mandate. This is the story Of one
ship in one unit Of that attacking
force and what happened to one
island stronghold. Multiply the story
ad lib-conceive of other units scat
tered on an ocean front more than
200 miles long, all striking in perfect
rhythm and unison-many Islands
and you'll get some idea Of the force
Of the blow that set the Mikado's
unconceivable military clique back
on its heels.
A few hours ago we turned away
from the column Of smoke that
marks the resting place Of desolated
Wolfe. Under that spreading smoke
we had seen job Of painstakins de-
struction, unexcelled even In the
bombing Of London. deftly and
quickly done.
The airfield-one of the most COM
pletely equipped and most elaborate
Of the farflung japanese establish
ment-lay in ruins, its planes
wrecked inside the hangers, its
buildings ashes, its runways blown
up with heavy shells. The fine,
modern radio station had been de-
stroyed. Powder MAGAZINES had been
blown up. producing the equivalent
Of . small earthquake. Ships lay
smashed, upended In the placid la
COON, their crews dead. Shops, bar
racks, warehouses, wharves and
lighthouses had been obliterated.
Half-a-dozen land batteries had
been silenced. And now the fuel
storage was burnins-thousands of
tons Of oil that might never be re-
placed.
Pearl Harbor Recalled.
And all this was the toll on one
base-just one Of the group with
which Japan had hoped to secure
the proprietorship Of the Marshall
Islands for all time. There were
other islands, some better fortified,
some worse. But they all went.
You remembered with some salts
faction that Pearl Harbor's base IA
cilities, undamaged by the Decem-
Der z attack, were operating Z few
hours after the Japs went away
| these Marshall bases, now indefen-
sible and far removed from sup
plies and labor material, may never
be repaired.
Oficial descriptions of such opera
tions as this are simple:
I'VE went in under fire from en-
emy land batteries, surface raiders
and dive bombers. In deliberate
tempo-to make sure that no am
munition was wasted-we tossed
over enough shell onto the enemy
bases to disperse their personnel q
thoughtful descriptive word dis
perse) and level their installations.
Having done that, We came out and
fought submarines for 100 miles and
bombers for 200"-something like
that the communique would read,
and in the main it would be correct.
What 1t lacks Is drama.
You'd like some hint, for instance,
Of what the commander of this force
had to contend with when he dared
to Swoop down on these islands with
no assurance Of what lay ahead of
him, digging up their secrets with
shell. You'd like to know, maybe,
something about the untried kids at
the guns and the untried kids in
the planes-and there are other
things -
We got to our position in front Of
the atoll which was our objective
about dawn after steaming fast al
night. We idle for awhile, listening
and scanning q sea that was bril-
liant under q full, yellow moon.
There were no traces of submarines,
no lights or other signs of unusual
activity on the western horizon
where our quarry lay, no sounds Of
airplanes questing overhead. And
the navigating officers probably
heaved an appropriate sigh, for this
had been . dangerous bit of going
not only for us but for other units
Of the battle force that had swung
of fanwise toward the southerly
islaudS-Jaluit. Melin. KWajalein,