Evening star., 1943-10-31
Pacific Front

The pieces of the pattern of japanese
defeat in the Southwest Pacific theater
are falling into place now so rapidly
that filling in the vacant places requires
no great imagination.
The long campaign in New Guinea,
which saw the smashing of Japanese
air power as far west as the base at
WeWak, the devastation of the Rabaul
alrfields and the elimination of Kahili
and Kara Airfields on Bougainville. have
now so softened New Britain and Bou-
galnville that capture of these islands
can be undertaken without much men,
ace from japanese aviation
Invasion of New Britain, on which
Rabaul is located, can come along two
paths. either from New Guinea or from
the Northern Solomons where only two
large islands are left in Japanese pos
session-Bougainvil and Choiseul-and
an American parachute landing occurred
on the latter on Thursday.
japanese troops fed northWard with
out offering any resistance after the
Americans floated down from the sky
at Voza, a village in Southwestern
Choiseul, and the position was quickly
! consolidated. An advance up this island
together with other attacks mounted
| from the Treasury Islands, southwest of
! BougainVille, which were also occupied
last week by the Allies, will put Bougain-
! vile in jeopardy. The landings on the
| Treasury group, which were amphibious,
were made with only slight resistance
after which the few Japs on the islands
fed to the hills where their elimination
is expected to be accomplished easily.
Four Raids on Rabaul
-Four heavy raids in recent days on
Rabaul have served to wipe its airfields
out and have destroyed 525 Jap planes
and probably destroyed many others. ac-
cording to Gen. MacArthurs headquar-
ters while Admiral Halsey announced
that Kahill is useless after a severe
pasting.
On New Guinea, japanese forces
trapped inland which have sought to
break through Australian lines and reach
Finschhafen have been Whitfield down
| severely and have now been forced to
fall back into the jungle
On the Burma front, Allied planes
continue blasting away at jap in
stallatlons in Burma and Indo- China.
sottenlng these areas for the drive which
presently may be launched by Lord
Mountbatten, who is eager to get at
the job of throwing the Japs back.
An interesting announcement was
made during the week by Vice Admiral
klncaid, recently in command in the
Aleutlans but who is now replacing
Vice Admiral Carpenter in the South
west Pacific. Admiral Kincaid declared
that quite few Japanese submarines
had been sunk in the waters near
Kiska shortly before the unopposed
American landing on the island.
Despite reports here before Congress
that Japan is producing planes faster
than we are destroying them and other
| statements to the effect that japanese
shipbuilding is at far more rapid pace
than generally supposed, Admiral MINI
ity on Navy Day declared that Japan's
total air strength has declined and that
it never again will reach the peak at
talned at the time OF the sinking of the
Prince of Wales and the Repulse. In
fact, Admiral Nimitz forecast that it
will be Whitfield down to the point that
it will be concentrated at home to pro-
| tect the home islands, which the ad-
miral believes soon will be subjected to
round -the-clock bombing, just as Ger
many now is.
The Pacific commander added that
Japan has not only been held, but has
been driven back at important points
and has taken severe losses in the air
and in her merchant fleet.
The losses to the merchant fleet are
due in large part to the highly success
full work of American submarines. two
more of which-the Runner and the
Dorado-the Navy announced as missing
last week.