Evening star., 1943-03-19
MooArthur's First Year

! Last Wednesday marked the first
anniversary Of Gen. Douglas Mac
Arthur S arrival in Australia Ordered
to quit the gallant but hopeless stand
| on Bataan and Corregidor, MacAr-
thur reached the continent Down
Under at critical moment after a
hazardous trip. With astounding
speed the tidal wave of japanese
conquest had swept over the Meth
erlands Indies, New Britain and ad-
)acent points on New Guinea, thus
menaclng Australia itself with at
tack over Wide arc from the north
ward.
The threatened commonwealth
was faced with difficult problem of
defense. Many of it's best troops
were in North Africa and Syria or
had been lost in Malaysia, while at
nome there was a crying lack of
heavy equipment. Reinforcements
were beginning to arrive from the
United States, but the long lifeline
with America was in danger of being
cut. The one favorable factor was
that the very SWiftnesS of the jap
anese advance made it necessary for
the Toxic high command to pause
and mass its forces on it's newly won
outposts in the South Pacific before
launching what it hoped would be
the death blows to its enemies.
Gen. Macarthur. appointed COM
mander in chief Of the Allied forces,
used this brief breathing spell to
good advantage. Strengthening his
outer defenses in Northern Australia
and New Guinea, he braced himself
for the coming shock. japanese
strategy presently revealed itself as
an attempt to cut communications
with America before attacking an
isolated Australia The first moves
In this plan were the japanese seiz-
ures Of the Solomon Island chain,
followed by the dispatch of a huge
armada to conquer Port Moresby, the
was met and mastered in the battle
of the Coral Sea, when the japanese
armada was smashed by our COM
bined fleet and air arm. last May
Turning to slower but safer tactics,
the japanese built up their holds in
the Solomons and started their over
land attack on Port Morcsby. This
was countered by the surprise land
ing on Guadalcanal early in August
and the strangulation of Japan's
New Guinea campaign through novel
air tactics which have since been
perfected SO successfully. The past
winter has seen series Of Allied
blows which have kept the japanese
on the strategic defensive and have
inflicted heavy losses in men, planes,
and especially shipping, which is
Japan's weakest point. Guadalcanal
is now wholly ours the last Japanese
holds on New Guinea are besieged,
and the recent annihilation Of big
convoy in the Bismarck Sea shows
our growing strength and striking
power. Yet those successes should
not blind us to the trials which lie
ahead. From the larger aspects. all
our triumphs have been strategically
defensive in character. We still lack
the troops, ships and planes to pass
to major offensive against the main
japanese defense line on the long
arc from the Netherlands Indies to
New Britain and the Gilbert Islands.
All along that vast battle front, the
japanese are constantly building up
strength capable of offensive as we'll
as defensive tactics, Nowhere else
has the Toxic high command def
nltely committed a major part OF its
reserve power, whereas we have as
sumed pressing commitments in
North Africa and potentially in Eu-
rope. The stern logic of our overall
grand strategy is that we simply
! have not the total resources to wage
| allOut warfare ultaneously on
both sides of the globe. Macarthur
has made much of relatively little.
His situation is infinitely better than
1t was year ago. Yet his basic
problem remains much the same as
! it was at the beginning. That is the
challenge which confronts him as he
enters his second year in the war of
the Antipodes.