The Wilmington morning star., 1944-04-15
Interpreting
The War
BY KIRKE L. SIMPSON
Associated Press War Anal.

Associated Press War Analys.
Both extremities of the Jsn.
nese Pacific outpost line, New a.;
nea in the southwest and the ~
riles in the northeast. have cow.
in for intensified air attack wy
Gently to stir expectation that NOW
American or Allied moves are ~,
pending.
Those attacks, particularly !,
the north where the bombers com.
closer and closer to Toxic itson
with every stroke, must also h.
sharpening japanese apprehen
sion. Linked with enemy know,
ledge that planes of super rano.
and hitting power have long baen
in production in this country b,t
not yet flown in action so far ~
known, the attack in the Ku,,iIa.
have an ominous significance IA,
the Nipponese home front
Yet it is southwark, on New chi
nea, that the greater threat 10 fl.
whole japanese conquest design
may be developing. With the Bis
marck archipelago cleared Of tba
foe, or his remaining qarrisonS isl.
lated and doomed, General Mar.
Arthur is shifting his attention IN
the south boundary of that So,
highroad to the southern PbjEn.
pines. His bombers are pushin,
the preliminary attack up the New
Guinea coast line into the Dutch
end of the big island And the
northwestern tip of New Guinea is
only 600 miles from the southeast.
ern tip of Mindanao in the Philin.
pines.
None of the Pacific islands o.,
atolls in the lower Pacific excep,
New Guinea could we'll be used
effectively as base of major
ground troop concentration for a
return in force to the Philippines.
That huge, half Australian half
Dutch island may not be the land
bridge by which Macarthur ey.
poets one day to lead an acmv
back into the Philippines; but it
has possibilities.
The general long ago discarded
an island hopping technique. The
Bismarck operations, for which
Admiral Halsey's fleet and air
power we're merged under Mac.
| Arthur's overall command so eff.
fectively, employed the by-pasSins
method instead. Unquestionably it
cut many months off the time It
would otherwise have taken 10
reach the detectives now secured,
With the Bismarck sea obiec.
tives attained, however, except for
such hopping up as is still to be
done, and a junction with Admiral
Nimitz' fleet and air power in The
central Pacific effected, MacArth-
ur appears to be shifting his d.
rection. His bombers are blazing
the way for his ground troops in
the next phase of the strategic de-.
sign credited to him.
There are no official figures on
the strength of the ground forces,
Australian and American, avail.
able now to Macarthur. Including
garrisons of islands protecting
communication routes back to Ha'
wall very considerable numbers Of
troops which could be quickly cor
centrated somewhere when the
time is ripe for that return to the
Philippines to which Macarthur
pledged himself wlen he left Cor
regidor.
That time may be relatively re-
mote, but certainly not as remote
as it seemed only months ago, The
stepped up campaign to clear all
New Guinea of enemy footholdS
hints at stage setting for the CAM
paign to retake the Philippines, al
though major new sea-alr opera
tons by Nimitz's forces chalen8'
ing anew the Japan main fleet 10
action also are to be expected to
the north.
Whatever Allied Pacific strate-
gy may prove to be from here on
something is brewing in New Gul'
nea that has definitely i'll portenS