Evening star. [volume], February 01, 1942, Page B-3, Image 28

About Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972

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“ 11 1 » „
Battle for Malaya Ends, Siege of Singapore Begins, Imperiling Indies and India
—---.. . . - _
America's Eighth Week of War
(126th Week of World War II)
By John C. Henry.
A lot of war was being fought last week as corners of the globe that
have been remote and unfamiliar names became battle fronts of this
greatest of history’s conflicts.
In the forefront to a greater degree than ever before, portending what
la to come, were things American—ships, planes, tanks and fighting men—
while at home relentless constriction settled more securely over peacetime
habits and modes of living.
In summation, these were major developments:
In Malaya, British Empire troops withdrew to the island fortress of
Singapore, ready for a full siege.
Still without decision as the week drew near an end was a savage
■even-day naval and air battle along the narrow and winding 800-mile
length of Macassar Strait—invasion highway to Java, between Borneo and
the Celebes. Sunk or damaged by savage Dutch-American thrusts were
some 50 Jap transports and warships, but presumably the armada still
was en route as this was written.
On Luzon, Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s gallant little army continued to
dismay superior Jap forces in unsuccessful attempts to complete their
conquest of the Philippines.
In North Africa, other British Empire forces claimed to have slowed
Gen. Rommel’s Nazi counterattack, but loss of Bengasi was admitted.
In Russia, Red armies continued to hammer the Germans backward.
In China, Chiang Kai-shek's fighters continued to slash successfully
at Jap invasion troops, while outnumbered but recklessly daring British
and American air squadrons Deat off Jap threats to Rangoon and southern
sectors of the vital Burma road.
The newest of a host of American Expeditionary Forces, part of an
eventual Army of 7,000,000, landed at North Ireland—their initial responsi
bility that of protecting American bases there, but with greater tasks
undoubtedly on the future book.
At Rio de Janeiro, delegates of 21 “good neighbors” agreed unanimously
to recommendations that normal relations be broken with the Axis.
Swiftly the governments applied this decision, with only Argentina and
Chile yet to act.
In American Atlantic waters, German submarines continued indis
criminate sinkings. ^
Far Eastern Front
The most savage combined sea and air
engagement of World War II had its
beginning 10 days ago when those "in
domitable Dutch” scored a dozen direct,
crippling hits on eight Jap ships in a
strongly escorted armada discovered
moving southward through Macassar
Strait.
Presumably, it was an invasion fleet
In all the grand proportions with which
Tokio thus far has undertaken its opera
tions—headed for one of the twin prizes
of the Indies, oil-rich Java.
But the Dutch counterattack was
merely a signal for what was to come
as battlfe-eager air and
Battle of naval forces of the united
Macassar Dutch and American
command pounded re
lentlessly at the huge Jap convoy, sys
tematically blasting at loaded transports
and at escorting warships.
While potential success of the invading
squadron in reaching Java and estab
lishing a bridgehead on that island would
be of tragic implication to the united
cause, there was some reason to believe
duri.ig this week that trapping of the
Jap armada in Macassar had resulted [
from carefully devised ambush strategy.
Presumably reconciled to inevitable Jap
landings on Borneo, Dutch defenders
somewhat ostentatiously had announced
withdrawal of their forces at Balik
Papan, oil port on the strait side of
Borneo, after complete destruction of i
facilities there. Evidently believing that
this withdrawal indicated a general one
with regard to the entire waterway, the
Jap commanders dispatched their Java
bound convoy from the captured port.
Vengeful air and naval units of Dutch
and American forces pounced on the
slow'-moving sea train, pounding at it
Incessantly from Friday through Friday,
and being supplemented by Australian
air fighters as the drawn-out engagement
continued.
An accurate boxscore on Jap losses
was difficult to compile with dupUcating
information often coming from
Jap several American and Dutch
Toll sources, but there seemed little
doubt that more than a dozen
warships had been sunk or heavily dam
aged and about 30 loaded transports
either sent down or badly battered.
Chief among the united claims was
“'probable sinking” by Dutch planes of an
unidentified Jap battleship and the tor
pedoing of a Jap aircraft carrier by an
American submarine.
Including casualties of Macassar,
Netherlands sources on Friday claimed
that Dutch had sunk or badly damaged
54 Jap ships in 54 days of war. Another
compilation of united successes placed
Jap ship losses since start of war at
nearly 100 vessels, including two battle
ships, two cruisers and one carrier, and
greater numbers of transports and mer
chant vessels. Another 50 of various
classes were listed as damaged.
Among these victims, incidentally, are .
two Jap ships which had been sunk by j
daring thrusts of American torpedo boats j
in Jap-controUed Subic Bay in the
Philippines. Second of these forays in
the dancing mosquito boats was made
during this past week.
Meanwhile, land operations were under
way at several points on Borneo with j
Japanese troops threatening Pontianak
after being landed at Pemangkat and
others attempting to push their way out
of Balik Papan. Elsewhere in this arc
of islands north of Australia and the
Indies, Australian forces battled Japs in
the hills of New Britain and New Ireland,
and Aussie flyers plastered Nippon ships
in Rabaul Harbor.
i” ^ i'i
^ F?ELW Q T'N M'CA ||f| °j^f;'E°
<j^ IRON MANGANESE *^g AREAS «ASES
That India should be threatened by a power with headquarters 4,000
miles away is a startling commentary on modern warfare.
But that’s the prospect India faces. Singapore, threatened by the
Jap drive down the Malay Peninsula, alone guards against Nipponese
incursions into the Indian Ocean. Singapore in Japanese hands would
be the signal lor Japanese submarine and airplane raiders to harry the
commerce of the whole Indian Ocean. The siege of Singapore, just
beginning, thus carries grave implications for the future.
On battle-scarred Batan, MacArthur
marked his 62d birthday by maintaining
his positions against en
MocArthur raged Jap forces several
Fights on times reinforced with men
and planes. As on pre
vious occasions, American artillery
proved itself too methodically accurate
to permit headlong Nipponese infantry
assaults to get beyond the No Man's Land
of this bitter siege.
With his flare for the dramatic fully
evident, the American general acknowl
edged his commander in chief's congratu
lations by a birthday message to the
White House on Friday from the "smoke
begrimed men • • • from the foxholes
of Batan and the batteries of Corregidor.”
Despite heroic resistance by fresh Aus
tralian battalions. Japanese invaders
moved steadily southward on Malaya to
ward positions sure to mean all-out siege
of great British base on Singapore. Sur
render of Bahu Pahat, western anchor
of defense line in Johore, weakened Brit
ish chances to point of permitting enemy
to come virtually within sight of its goal
by week end.
Bayonet fighting by Australian units
and guerriUa tactics by Indian companies
cost Japs men but slowed them little.
'BEAT JAPAN FIRST' NOW UNITED STRATEGY
Nippon's Drive South Makes Pacific Vital Theater of War
By Constantine Brown.
Unpleasant as the Far Eastern situ
ation continues to be for the United Na
tions, it is far less distressing than a
week ago. Hope for the Allies is begin
ning to shine through the clouds over the
Western Pacific.
The whole of Luzon Island is likely to
be occupied by the Japanese before long,
with the remainder of the heroic defend
ing force withdrawing to the bastion of
Corregidor, where it is hoped resistance
to the enemy can be maintained a while
longer. Singapore's situation is no cheer
ier, and the fortress appears doomed.
In spite of these two critical spots
there is growing optimism in Washing
ton military circles, and the reason is
to be found in the fact that a final de
cision has been made on a definite
strategy for the United Nations.
It was not satisfactory from the mili
tary point of view to utter vague and
bombastic threats to come to grips with
the enemy wherever he could be found.
It embraces too much territory at a time
when we have a force capable of doing
well just one job at one place.
The result of our confused war plans
was that we had no strategy at all. We
had a number of plans for action, all of
which were shuffled and reshuffled in
accordance with momentary political
exigencies. We were going to send forces
here, there and everywhere, with the idea
that somehow, sometime, sowewhere we
would defeat the principal enemy—Hit
ler. But specifically when and how he
could be defeated no one quite knew.
Plan of Action Formulated.
The several strategic plans of the
United States and Great Britain tallied
with those of the Soviet Union because
they pertained mainly to Europe. But
the Russians did not dare press us
for an all-out European adventure at this
time. During the White House conver
sations when Prime Minister Churchill
was in Washington, the Russians merely
Indorsed the general policy that we
would not, as Hitler wanted us to do, di
vert our main forces to the Far East.
American military and naval men were
not particularly fond of this discjsitior,
to overemphasize the European theater
at the expense of the Far East. But they
were only advisers to the two great
strategy-makers — President Roosevelt
and Prime Minister Churchill. The lat
ter had formulated the basic plan or
action between them and consulted the
military experts simply on technical de
tails.
The Australians and Chinese were
freatly concerned. They knew that il
we allowed the Japanese to overrun the
i
Far East—and that was inevitable un
less we decided to throw all our weight
into the Pacific—the face of the world
might be changed even if Hitler were de
feated. They knew what a complete vie •
tory for Japan in the next year would
mean. The people of India—which had
been seething with unrest—Malaysia,
the Philippines and all the other races of
the South Pacific would be greatly im
pressed by Japan’s victories and of neces
sity would join the Nipponese.
Overtures Made to Chiang.
Gen. Chiang Kai-shek found himself
in a perilous position. If the Burma road
were cut by the Nipponese, witj> the as
sistance of the Thailanders ana the Bur
mese, he no longer could count on as
sistance from the outside world. Some of
his followers were asking how long he
would continue a fight which to many
eppeared hopeless. Unless the United
Nations made a real effort to stem the
Japanese advance he could not ask his
people to continue resisting the Jap
anese.
Gen. Chiang had a hard enough time
keeping his men in line after the first
victories of the Japanese in the Philip
pines, at Hong Kong and in the Malay
Peninsula. If, after the effect of the j
Japanese surprise had worn off, the Brit
ish and Americans failed to put up more
than a perfunctory resistance, there was
no telling how long he could control
them.
Tckio lost no time taking advantage
of the situation, and overtures were
made not only to the Chungking govern
ment but to Gen. Chiang himself. All
would be forgiven and forgotten, the
Japanese told him. if he could see the
light and enter the greater prosperity
fold of the little sons of heaven.
No Temporary Loss.
Contrary to the way some of our lead
ers had It figured, inaction in the Pacific
which would permit the Japanese to win
a complete victory would not be a tempo
rary affair, lasting only until Hitler was
defeated. It could have n'eant the union
of millions of Asiatics from the Philip
pines to Iran under the military leader
ship of Japan. This vast alliance of
Oriental races would have had at its dis
posal not only a huge population but also
aU those raw materials which the whites
so far have controlled. This point of
view was pressed with energy on Wash
ington and London by the spokesmen of
the largest and most advanced of the
yellow peoples—China.
The Australians, too, were more than
forthright in their demand that the
strategy of the United Nations be cen
tered on the Pacific. They, too, insisted
that the Allies concentrate on Hitler
only after the danger of a Japanese vic
tory is removed. They pointed out that
Australia, with its still untapped riches
! and a very small white population, in
vited invasion by the Japanese unless
they were abruptly checked.
The whole organized force of Australia
and its dependencies had been sent to
fight for the empire. Now they could not
be brought back to fight for their home
land without disastrous results for the
British. But Australia had to be de
fended at any price, and unless America
were willing to assume full responsibility
for the defense of the continent the Aus
tralian government could not give guar-,
antees against the future. It would
take the Australians at least a year to
train and equip a defense force capable
of resisting Japanese invasion; mean
while the Japs could hardly be expected
to pull their punches and wait for the
Australians to prepare.
So forceful were the pleas of the Can
berra cabinet that serious attention was
paid to them, but until the middle of
January few in Washington or London
believed invasion of Australia was to be
feared. Precautionary measures w'ere
contemplated and some war supplies and
personnel, brought together for opera
tions in other quarters, were held ready.
Decision Relieves Military Men.
Once more Tokio rendered the United
Nations an invaluable service when it
tipped its hand by occupying a number
of Australian outpost islands with a view
to using them as bases for future op
erations. The first service they did us
was ir raiding Pearl Harbor and unify
ing the American people for this fight
to the finish.
Japanese occupation of islands in the
Solomon group and a portion of New
Guinea decided the strategy board of the
United Nations—mainly President Roose
velt and Prime Minister Churchill—to
give up for the time being all thought
of adventures in Europe and the Medi
terranean area and to concentrate all
Allied efforts to defeat the Japanese
before seriously tackling Hitler.
That decision occasioned a great sigh
of relief among American military and
naval men. They fully realize that un
der the present circumstances, and con
sidering the losses suffered at Pearl Har
bor, the task will not be an easy one.
But the great majority of Army, Navy
and air men believe the job can be done
Evacuation of civilians from north
shore of Singapore Island was ordered
in midweek and repetition of successful
siege tactics of Jap6 against Hong Kong
appeared likely strategy of Tokio forces.
Not far from this theater of Axis op
erations, Jap and Thailand forces con
tinued their offensive ges
Burma tures at Burma, but R. A. F.
Resists and American volunteer air
fighters based in Rangoon
were inflicting a heavy price. Flying
with all the abandon, of country fair
acrobats, this small aviation garrison was
counting some 125 Jap victims by the
week's close with British-American cas
ualties not yet in double figures.
Objective of Japanese westward thrust
at this point probably is cutting of
Burma road, vital supply line to Chinese
armies, followed by full-dress invasion
drive at India.
Grave danger of such a twin maneuver
to cause of United Nations is easily dis
cernible with rich sources of raw mate
rials and supply lines not only to China
but to Russia desperately dependent
upon maintenance of present control.
Diverting substantial portions of their
man power southward to reinforce Burma
road protection, Chinese still were claim
JOHN CURTIN,
Premier of Australia.
—A. P. Photo.
more quickly than is generally believed
possible.
_What disheartened American generals
and admirals was the failure of the
United Nations’ strategy board to give
evidence of possessing a definite strategy.
Forces Rushed to Pacific.
The Australians spoke their mind
forcefully. Their Premier. John Curtin,
did not mince words in his urgent appeal
to London and he spoke plainly to the
authorities in Washington. He didn't
dwell on the unselfish sacrifices of the
Australians in the battlefields of Europe
and Africa, knowing that sentimental
considerations don’t weigh much these
days. But he did point out frankly the
consequences of Australia's plight and
indicated that he was demanding real
support before it was too late.
The time element, which during the
staff conversations in Washington had
been somewhat disregarded, was empha
sized by the Australian Premier, who
showed conclusively that the United Na
tions cannot afford to make the mistake
of thinking In terms of next year or
next summer. Assistance in great quan
tity must come at once, he made clear.
Otherwise, he said frankly, it might be
too late and even Hitler's defeat would
be a relatively unimportant factor in
the face of an immediate catastrophe in
the Pacific.
The earnest words of the Canberra
government, supported by those from
New Zealand, achieved their purpose.
Forces are now being rushed to the
Pacific in such strength that we can
look forward with confidence that at
least one member of the Axis may be
halted before long.
ing Jap invaders under retreat in di
rection of Canton-Kowloon line.
* * * *
African Front
In /the see-saw war of North Africa,
Gen. Rommel's augmented Axis columns
whipped up a full-grown counteroffensive
in this past week, finally forcing fall of
Bengasi and clearing of eastern shore
of Gulf of Sirte.
Success of German-Italian naval and
air units in moving men and equipment
across Mediterranean holds the answer
to this latest flow of the desert tide.
Only last Tuesday, incidentally, did the
London Admiralty acknowledge loss of
one of its biggest watchdogs of the Medi
terranean—the 31.000-ton battleship Bar
ham, sunk by submarine torpedo last
November 25.
Countering this loss to Britain's fleet
was announced commissioning of 35,000
ton Duke of York in time to bring Prime
Minister Churchill to America in Decem
ber. Although five of Britain's greatest
fighting ships have been announced as
lost in this war, at least three and prob
ably twice that number have been added
to active service.
w ^
Russian Front
On a long, blizzard-swept front, the
cause of the United Nations took con
tinued encouragement last week in the
steady successes of Russian armies.
Under the momentum that has swept
away Nazi threats at Moscow, winter
toughened Red columns pounded deeper
into Smolensk Province. Behind them,
salvage crews collected great quantities
of German war material, preparing much
of it for quick transformation into arms
against the Axis.
And this week came a new intensifi
cation of Russian operations in the south,
Moscow disclosing on Thursday and Fri
day that Red columns had driven 93
miles into Donets Basin territory occu
pied by German troops five months ago.
Imperiled was the entire Axis position
along the Sea of Azov, threatened was
Nazi foothold in Crimea.
* * * *
Atlantic Front
Axis submarines ranging along the
Atlantic seaboard had counted at least
15 victims through the final two weeks
of January, and Berlin was claiming
more than twice that number.
Most spectacular of these assaults was
sinking of Canadian liner Lady Hawkins,
carrying 321 passengers and crew from
Bermuda to Eastern American port.
Only 71 survivors had been listed on
Wednesday, 10 days after actual torpedo
attack.
A submarine alarm in the Gulf of
Mexico led to fears at midweek that an
attack on Panama Canal might be at
tempted but the raider never was located.
Curtly, one naval pilot reported:
‘Sighted sub, sank same.'’ There was
good reason to believe that ether under
sea enemies had been accounted for dur
ing past fortnight.
* * * *
Behind the Lines
Major developments in the noncombat
areas of this war probably were the suc
cessful culmination of the two-fteek Pan
American Conference at Rio de Janeiro
and the disclosed creation of three all
embracing British-American supply
boards.
To bring about the former required
the persistent and diligent leadership of
Brazilian and United States delegates at
the conference, plus willingness—in some
cases eager and in others reluctant—on
the part of all other nations of this
hemisphere to join in the common cause
of democratic defense.
In brief, the results were reflected In
41 resolutions, principal effect of which
was to recommend sever
Axis Ties ing of formal relations with
Severed aU Axis partners and to
provide for the establish
ment of Joint military, economic and
financial boards for the mobilization of
hemisphere strength.
Prerequisite to the unanimity eventu
ally accomplished was a settlement of
the 111-year-old boundary dispute be
tween Peru and Ecuador. Not until an
agreement was finally effected on this
issue did Ecuador Join in approving the
overall resolutions of the conference.
But even pending this settlement, all
but two—Argentina and Chile—rushed to
completion by midweek the implementa
tion of their commitment to sever Axis
relations.
Important to the new supply boards
will be agreement among the pan-Amer
ican nations for relaxation or removal of
tariff barrier* now impeding free transfer
of natural resources, most of which will
be poured Into the war effort. On these
boards—divided in jurisdictions to the
fields of munitions assignments, shipping
and allocation of war materials—will
fall the responsibility of actuaUy placing
the supplies and armaments where they
can do the utmost good to the united
cause.
Out of this system should come order
and efficiency in the marshaling of the
strength of four-fifths of the world.
Startling was disclosure on Monday
that an American Expeditionary Force—
which President Roosevelt later described
as one of 8 or 10—had landed in North
Ireland to receive fervent British wel
come.
In the words of Prime Minister
Churchill, this lusty band is but the
vanguard of more men and more fighting
equipment destined to flow eastward
across the Atlantic to aid in striking at
the enemy “where he is.” For the British
official they probably helped to bring
a 464-1 vote of confidence on Thursday
from a House of Commons that had
wrangled through three days of critical
debate on government policies.
Threat of Invasion
Unifies India
British India has been apprehensive of
an invasion from the northwest border
region for years. Armaments and forti
fications have been concentrated there.
Now British generals face the unhappy
prospect of invasion, not from the
guarded northwest, but against the fat,
soft southeastern sector.
From the Japanese advance bases on
the Burma-Thai-Malay line, the south
east coast is within range of medium
bombers. The rest of India could easily
be reached by long-range bombardment
airplanes.
The east shore also is the least defensi
ble area in the whole subcontinent. Flat
lands stretch down to the ocean from
the eastern ghats, are almost ideal for
a determined landing force to estab
lish a foothold and lay out "quickie" air
bases.
The threat to United Nations com
munications is deadly serious. Two of
the mcst vital routes of supply to the
two biggest members—China and Rus
i sia—intersect in the waters of the Indian
Ocean.
One is the only all-weather route to
Russia, the artery around Africa and
to the head of the Gulf of Persia where
goods r.re transshipped across Iran. The
other is to Rangoon, Burma, where the
Burma road haul to Chungking begins.
Internally. India seems in better shape
than at any time for several years past.
The very real threat of Japanese in
vasion has unified the Indian people,
and Nehru, the new leader of the Indian
Nationalist movement, has given quali
fied support to the war effort.
India supplies some soldiers, but no
forces in proportion to its 325.000,000
population. The fighting forces come
largely from the northern states and
Nepal. The Gurkas, Sikhs and northern
Mohammedans are India's fighting men.
India's part in past wars, in addition
to the fine fighting men from the north,
has been to supply raw materials and
wealth to the empire effort. It w'as con
sidered as a safe and remote and virtu
ally inexhaustible storehouse of goods
and provender. Now the enemy is at the
virtual gates of the storehouse.
WEST COAST GUARDED AGAINST JAPANESE
Defenses Set Up From California to Bottom of Chile
By John Lear,
Wide World News.
The ring of steel which the Inter
American Conference at Rio de Janeiro
was called upon to weld around the New
World is already in place against Japan.
All the way down the Pacific Coast,
from the southern edge of California to
the Straits of Magellan at the bottom
of Chile, the Latin American republics
are on constant guard by land and sea.
At no point could the Japanese land
on the western rim of Central and South
America without meeting resistance. Nor
could they cross over into the Atlantic
without passing naval guns.
The defenses are not airtight yet by
any means. But they employ every
thing the Latin nations can muster.
They made it clear that “common de
fense" is more than a friendly phrase.
Mexico Co-operates.
Mexico, acting with the approval of
the United States, has cleared Japanese
agents out of the Lower California pe
ninsula and has moved in troops to guard
that strategic coastline. It has placed
the entire Mexican Pacific coast on the
alert, on wartime footing, sharpening
the point of this maneuver by signing a
mutual defense pact with Washington.
Movements of all Axis nationals—Ger
mans. Italians and Japanese—are closely
scrutinized under a recent order requir
ing them to present their papers for
Government inspection. ,
The six Central Americas—Guatemala,
El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa
Rica and Panama—are too small and too
weak to do much for themselves. But
all of them have opened their ports and
airports to wartime use by the United
States. Panama Is a stronghold of mili
tary and naval riiight. Costa Rica has
borrowed $550,000 from lease-lend to
build Its first army. And $20,000,000 is
to be spent to finish the Pan-American
highway from Mexico to Panama.
South of Panama, the Republic of
Colombia has moved troops into position
along both the Caribbean and Pacific
coasts, with special guards at all ports.
A constant close check is kept on Jap
anese and other Axis fifth columnists.
Ecuador has ordered all Axis peoples
out of the hump of Pacific coastline
which commands the approaches to the
Galapagos Islands, south of the Canal.
Those who stay face the fate of spies.
There is a great deal more in this last
move than meets the eye. I visited
Ealinas last January' and saw what was
happening then. Axis agents were pre
tending to dig oil wells in small conces
sions surrounded by British and United
States oil fields. They drilled for months
but never produced a drop of petroleum.
They spent their week ends in Axis
owned Salinas hotels, in company with
an Italian flying mission which previ
ously had advised the Ecuadorian gov
ernment but had been displaced by a
United States mission. Employes of the
German news agency, Trans-Ocean, also
vacationed there more often than most
newspaper reporters could afford. So
did the flyers of Sedta, the German air
line which since has been grounded.
Ecuador's Airports.
To counter whatever plotting was go
ing on at Salinas, Ecuadbr and the
United States co-operated to build im
mense airports along the coast. Osten
sibly for the use of Pan-American
planes, the landing fields were much
larger than required for commercial
purposes and the runways were made to
handle heavy bombers.
So that vital information stays within
the hemisphere, Ecuador has banned in
terned Japanese from leaving the coun
try.
The navy of Peru, consisting of a few
small boats and some submarines, is be
ing advised by United States naval offi
cers. This Is also true of the air force.
Which could be increased in size through
the production of an airplane factory
near Lima, one of the few in South
America.
The Chilean Navy Is on convoy patrol,
protecting its supply of strategic min
erals to the north.
Argentine Attitude.
Although the hemisphere defense
scheme is not restricted to the Pacific, its
effectiveness in the Atlantic will depend
to some degree on Argentina's attitude.
That country thus far has been unwilling
to do more than permit the United States
Navy and air force to use Argentine ports
and airports for war purposes. The ro'e
of the relatively strong Argentine Army
and Navy is, therefore, a question mark.
Most military men believe the greater
part of the Argentine coastline can be
covered safely by operations from the
harbor of Montevideo in Uruguay and
the more northern coast of Brazil—if the
strength of the United States Navy is not
too much in demand elsewhere at the
decisive moment.
Uruguay has gone all-out for hemi
sphere defense. The Brazilian coast has
been heavily fortified with airports, sup
ported by the Brazilian Navy. Brazil's
position dominates the sea route from
Dakar to Belem, the shortest passageway
between the old and new worlds. Thus,
it would force any invader from that
direction to take a more roundabout
route, which would be more difficult to
maintain.
It is a good guess that Argentina will ,
close the backdoor to this invasion route
as soon as the war production program
in the United States erases all doubt of
the United States Navy's power to defend
all the coasts of the New World.