Evening star., 1943-05-15
Aleutiun Bottle

umph IN TunlSla Is more welcome
than tidings that the long awaited
campaign for the reconquest of the
Aleutians has begun. 1t was Toxic
which first broke the news with a
statement that American forces
had landed on the japanese held
island of Attu, and our Navy Depart
ment has confirmed the event,
though as yet withholding details.
1t Is almost year since the Japa-
nese descended in force upon Attu,
the outermost link in the vast Aleu-
tian island chain which stretches
more than 1000 miles from the
Alaskan mainland westward toward
the Kamchatka Peninsula of Siberia.
The invaders, likewise, occupied
Kiska, an island 1875 miles to the
eastward OF Attu, and there estab-
lished their strongest base because
of better harbor facilities. Both
islands are barren mountain or
marshy tundra, lashed by endless
gales and wrapped in almost con-
stant fog for eight months of the
year. Only in the short summer
season, from May to August, are
there spells of clear weather when
1t iS possible for large ships to ap-
proach with relative ease.
Our high command obviously has
begun operations as soon as it was
climatically feasible, and has tackled
the easier job first, since Attu is the
less strongly garrisoned and forti-
fed. Still, even its conquest may be
a had task, since the Japanese are
reported to have dug themselves into
its rocky terrain and can be ex-
pected to put up determined re-
sistance. The taking of Attu will
isolate Kiska between 1t and our
bases to the eastward along the
Aleutian chain, the nearest of which,
at Amchitka Island, is only IS miles
away. Both Attu and Kiska have
been hammered continuously from
the air for the past two months.
Nevertheless, the japanese have pro-
ceeded with the construction of air
fields which are said to be approach
ing completion and which would be
a distinct threat to our establish
ments throughout Alaska and per-
hapS to our sea communications in
the North Pacific as we'll. This was
doubtless one of the factors which
determined our attack at the earliest
possible moment, much as was the
case with our expedition to Guadal-
canal In the Solomons last August.
The expulsion of the Japanese
from the Aleutians not only will
eliminate those dangers but will also
be the first step toward an offensive
aimed at Japan from the northward.
Attu is only 750 miles from the Jap
anese base at Paramushiru, the
northernmost link in the Kurile
island chain, which stretches from
Japan itself to the southern tip Of
Russian Kamchatka. Attu is ac-
tually nearer Paramushiru than it
is to Dutch Harbor, our main base in
the Aleutians. This shows the vast
distances involved in the North Pa
ciflc war area, where remoteness and
bad weather combine to render op-
erations peculiarly difficult.
The start of our campaign to re-
take the outer Aleutians should be
considered as part of a vastly larger
whole-the entire Pacific war thea
ter, stretching from sub Arctic
Alaska to Australia and the island
groups well south of the Equator.
Evidence is multiplying that the de-
fensive strategy to which we and our
Australian allies were constrained
during the first year of our war with
Japan Is giving place to new phase,
wherein the initiative begins to shift
to our side. The attack on Attu may
thus be deemed hopeful portent of
greater things to come.