Evening star., 1943-09-12


World
By a George H. Johnston.
fDueH, Sloan e. Pearce)
G. !. Jungle
By E. J. Kahn, Jr. (Simon G.
SchuSter.)
That the war in New Guinea has
had little attention from journalists
to date is hard to understand. There
have been half a dozen books on
the North African campaign and a
full dozen on the Russian where
there has been one on MacArthur's
lonely assault on Japan's most
dangerous outpost. The two books
named above therefore seem to de-
serve something special. Both deal
with the driving of the Japanese
from their jungle salients into the
sea. The first is by an Australian
Journalist writing about Americans.
The second Is by an American jour-
nallst writing to a considerable ex-
tent about Australians.
Mr.. Johnston has seen a lot of this
war and he says fatty that the New
Guinea campaign has made "the
toughest fighting" The battle was
won. in his view, mainly by sheer
toughness. The town of Port
Moresby on New Guinea's south
coast would have been the last stop
for the Japs before they took off for
Australia, yet the air defenses for
that crucially important place were
only old crates, and not more than
a handful of those Other equip
ment was similarly slow. American
pilots made those ships fly and made
them fight. The tales of individual
initiative in air combat of sheer i'm
provisations, which fill this book
are the best which the reviewer has
read in war literature so far-unless
1t be the corroborative account in
Pat Robinson's recent Fight for
New Guinea where some of the
same men and ships are mentioned.
The American flyers down under
seem to be their own only rivals, in
other words. They haven't been
beaten so far by any one.
Mr.. Kahn was in a slightly dif-
ferent position to report the war
from Mr.. Johnston. Though he is
a professional writer he was at the
front as sergeant, not as a cor
respondent. just the same. he has
done some very pretty reporting. His
book has the literary cast which
is not style for news writing; 1t has
personality flavor. the flavor of a
cool young man who is doing his
bit but privately thinks war is some
thing which adds up to nothing.
The book makes a good supple
mentary report to Mr.. Johnston's
volume. for, while Johnston devotes
himself mainly to the air fighting,
Mr.. Kahn describes the infantry,
and he was, in his own person,
part of that same.
The New Guinea terrain seems
to be a soldiers nightmare. It has
the bad features of all kinds of land
scapes. 1t contains the densest
jungle in the world. it has lush ma
laria1 swamps and crocodile filled
rivers, it has a killing climate. In
addition it has some of the steepest
mountains known to man and it has
no roads. And the Japs got into
it first. When Macarthur started
his offensive 1t was against cum
ningly established and concealed
positions all through that appalling
tangle-not against any battle line.
About the only way the Americans
and Australians could locate their
enemy was to get fired on, generally
from close range. Well, they drove
them out. Mr.. Kahn, now that it
is all over, assumes slightly
Olympian manner in telling how 1t
was done. But you can't hold any
kind of manner against a lad who
was through it.
The two books add up to some
thing you ought to know. The re-
viewer recommends them without
reservations.