Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1943-07-22
Porumushiro Portent

Porumushiro Portent =
The war lords in Toxic must have
had bad quarter of an hour when
the news was flashed to them that
a force of American Army Liberator
heavy bombers had raided Para
mushiro, Japans most northerly air
and naval base. Paramushiro is
the outermost link in the 70O-mile
Kurile island chain which extends
unbroken from the japanese home
land to the tip of Russian KAN
chatka, from which Paramushiro is
separated by only a narrow, islet-
dotted strait. The Kuriles are the
counterpart of the Aleutians. Both
are rugged and volcanic. Both are
almost perpetually wrapped in fog
or dashed by furious gales. Only
during the summer months are there
interludes in the bad weather which
generally prevails.
1t was one of those rare interludes
which facilitated the successful raid
from which our airmen returned
without the loss of single plane.
The nearest American territory is
the recently reconquered Aleutian
island of Attn, $50 miles from Para
mushiro. But the landing field on
Attu is presumably not yet suitable
for heavy bombers, so our flyers took
of from Amchitka, nearly 900 miles
away. Furthermore, bad weather
areas encountered en- route COM
PEELED some detourS; so it is safe to
estimate that the round-trip flight
was well over 1000 miles. This,
with a full load of bombs and fuel,
is striking testimony to the effective
radius of our big war planes. Their
visitation lasted forty minutes and
the target was satisfactorily plas-
tered, though gathering clouds pre-
vented complete observation of the
damage inflicted. Antiaircraft fire
was reported to be light and enemy
planes, though observed, did not rise
in defense. This may indicate sur
prise, though raid has been pre-
dlcted for some time and the Jap
anese must have known it was a
likely move on our part.
1t was mysterious terrain on which
our airmen looked down through the
cloud riffs, for the Kurile Islands
have long been a closed area and
few foreigners have ever seen the
islands at close range. They have
been in japanese hands since the
year 1875, when Japan obtained
them in full sovereignty as part of
the adjustment of conflicting claims
with Russia over them and other
nearby territories. It was from
Paramushiro that the ambitious ex-
petition against the Aleutians and
Alaska set forth year ago which
resulted in the seizure OF Attu and
Kiska. Now Attu is retaken and
Kiska is straightly beSieged with in
dlcations that it, too, may be re-
covered by us before the short sub
Arctic summer is over. That would
drive Japan back to her own borders
and open the way for a reversal
of strategic roles in the North
Pacific.
This first American raid on the
Kuriles is important, less for the
specific damage wrought than as
portent of greater things to come.
What Is in the wind has just been
revealed by Secretary of the Navy
Frank Knox, who stated that our
production schedule called for
doubling the size of the fleet by the
end OF the current year, with an
ultimate objective seven times the
naval strength now afloat. It is
utterly impossible for Japan to COM
pete with so prodigious a naval ex-
pansion program, correlated with
similar expansion of air strength.
Yet the problems OF distance and
the overcoming of obstacles are not
to be underestimate by the Amer
lean public. At the same press con-
ference wherein Secretary Knox re-
vealed those impressive expansion
estimates, Vice Admiral Horne, vice
chief of naval operations, envisioned
the continuance Of war in the Pa
cific until the year 1949. At any rate,
the Navy is planning for conflict
of that duration, though hoping it
may be shortened. The road to
Toxic is presumably a long and
arduous one. The raid on Para