The Wilmington morning star., 1944-02-02
interpreting
The War
BY RALPH H. HEppE
Associated Press War Edit

Assocla'ed Press War Editor
American forces have str,cL :.
what may prove one of the to,,r ~
est detectives OF the wa, in 49, 81
Pacific by their invasion Of t nls
Marshall islands, the easternn,a0es
group of the Micronesian Fnon;S'
which Japan has administered IN, &
der League of Nations mandsto
These island springboards NJ w
gression, from which the ats.
on Pearl Harboc may have besn
catapulted have been under Jam
nese domination for several da
cades. They have been virtuan.
closed to the white race Since lq@s
when Japan Withdrew from W.
League of Nations.
Repeatedly, Japan has denied
that she fortified the islands. Bnt
they may prove another Tarsw,
the bloodiest battle of Amej:,a,
Marine Corps history fought last
November in the successful CON-
quest of the Gilbert islands
The Marshalls and the other il,
land groups of Micronesia-h.
Carolines and Marianas-are n.
strategical key to the Pacific. m.
Mashalls lie closest to Pearl Ha,
Dor and the American mainland
They are athwart our shortest Sun.
ply lines to the South and South.
west Pacific. They menace tbs
southern flank of any great naval
thrust through the Central Pacific
to Formosa or the China coast
Invasion of the Marshalls takes
United Nations forces for the first
time in this war into territory Of
Japan's prewar empire. All pre-.
vious Allied successes have been
on terrain which Hirohito's war.
riors overran in their first flush
months of aggression.
The Marshalls, like the Gilbert,
300 miles to the south, are low.
lying atoll-lagoons. At no place do
they rise more than a few feet
above sea level. Like the Gilberts
therefore, they presnt no elevated
defense positions as targts for
American gunnery. They must be
reduced by direct hits from bomb.
ers or shells lobbed from war.
ships standing off shore. The
beaches must be stormed as they
were at TaraWa, in the whitening,
pointblank fire of enemy weapons
Tarawa's defenses were almost
impregnable, said Maj. Gen. Hol.
land Smith, who led the assault
forces. He told press conference
of blockhouses with walls five feet
thick and roofs of heavy iron over,
laid with ten to twelve feet of sand
and coral. TaraWa, the general
said, showed the need for more
concentrated Smelling and bomb.
ing. He expressed the belief, how.
ever, that bombers and navy gun.
fire did everything possible there.
Tarawa's fanatical defenders
tried every trick in their Oriental
bag, including the use of natives
as human shields. They were
crack elements of the japanese
navy. Defenders of the Marshans
doubtless will prove to be of the
same type, with probably some
new tricks. The Nlpponese have
had decades i (which to fortify
the Marshalls, for certainly no
one, after what happened at Pearl
Harbc-, would take seriously their
denials to the contrary They had
held the Gilberts but two years,
Some of the lagoons in the Mar
shalls are large, suitable for naval
bases. That of Jaluit atoll, the
principal island and administration
center, is 80 miles long by 70
miles wide. There are three deep
passages through the surrounding
leef to safe anchorage within the
lagoon. Lurking in those waters
may be enemy submarines, wait
ing to strike at the American task
forces.
The Marshall islands, consisting
of 80 islets and 867 reefs scat
tered over some 300 square mile
of the mid-Pacific, are divided IN
to two parallel chain. On the east
is the Radak (Sunrise) group; on
the west the Ralik {Sunset.
Germany a gu r d the Mar
shalls, Carolines and Marianas
treaty from Spain in 1899 for ao0u'
81, 500, 000 A japanese expedition
airy force took possession Of the
islands in the name of the AlneS
soon after the First World war
to Japan by the Treaty OF YER
sailles.
Natives of the Marshalls are o.
the Polynesian type - pleasant,
peaceful, hospitable and easy I'll
!, the eyes. The men are clever anu
intelligent, and excellent sailors