Evening star., 1942-10-15
Test in the SoIomons

4AC oGCIIlAlcSS Oh CQe LSQGlOG IN
the Solomon Islands, and inferen-
TALLY the magnitude of the stakes
involved, are shown by information
released by the Navy Department.
Almost simultaneously, we learn OF
two naval actions fought two months
apart and almost on the same spot,
but very different in character. The
more recent action was fought last
Sunday night, when an American
task force surprised and dispersed a
strong Japanese squadron escorting
troopships bound for Guadalcanal
Island, inf1icting heavy losses on
the enemy with relatively slight
damage to ourselves. And now it is
disclosed that the japanese have re-
turned, in force, to make another
assault.
The action fought on the night of
August 8 can be described only as a
near-disaster for us. An American
Australian squadron on patrol off the
small island of Savo as a screen for
the landing Of troops and supplies
from transports on the nearby is
lands of Tulagi, Florida and Guadal-
canal, was caught partly unprepared
by a dashing raid Of Japanese
cruisers and destroyers, and four
heavy cruisers, one of them Aus
trallan, were sunk, apparently with
minor loss to the daring raiders. The
redeemlng feature of this tragic
engagement was that the enemy,
perhaps ignorant of the extent of
the damage inflicted, or because of
his own injuries did not press his
success by attacking the TRANSPORTS,
The lesson of the first battle off
Savo should be taken to heart by
those who urge quick cleanup" of
the japanese in the South Pacific.
In this close-range action, as in the
similar engagement of the Java Sea,
the Japanese have shown a skill,
dash, and deadly accuracy of gun
and torpedo fire which should dispel
any easy optimism concerning the
foe that confronts us in the Pacific.
We now know that, at sea, as on
land, the Japanese are formidable
fighters. Only in the air do we seem
to be gaining an edge, perhaps due
to the loss of their best pilots and
their limited output of machines.
Another Japanese characteristic is
their tenacity. They are willing to
take heavy losses repeatedly in order
to gain an objective. Evidently, they
consider Guadalcanal highly
important position, for they have
made repeated attempts to land
fresh troops and supplies on that de-
batable island, where, it should be
remembered, we hold only small
foothold protecting the harbor and
airfield. Not until we have cleared
the jungles and mountains of that
large island will our grip on the
Southern Solomons be assured. And
even then we will have taken merely
the first step in expelling them from
the long island chain which extends
northward hundreds of miles to their
main bases on New Britain and New
Guinea. Furthermore, that, in turn,
would be preparatory to the reduc-
ton of Japan's tremendously forti-
fled inundated islands which screen
the Japanese homeland from attack
by the south or east However, the
looping off of this southwark
stretching tentacle of the japanese
octopus is prerequisite to a vital
blow at the body itself.
The Importance Of the campaign
In the Solomons cannot be measured
by the mere numbers of troops, ships
and planes involved. AS in Egypt,
the forces actually fighting at the
front are at the ends of long COM
munication lines which must be
maintained and carefully guarded.
If the men, shipping and material
devoted to supply service were
counted in, the totals absorbed by
the campaign would bulk surpris-
lngly large. In that way, a true