Prime Minister John Curtin this week proclaimed publicly what everyone had guessed privately: Australia could not possibly embark on a large-scale offensive for at least six months. "Until then, a basically holding policy will dominate tactics. There is no intention to sacrifice troops until Australia has the resources necessary for a successful offensive."
But the Australians at least had launched a little offensive—if retaking, against no opposition, a few miles of recently lost backyard could be dignified by that term. By last fortnight, when some Japs pushed southward across the precipitous Owen Stanley Mountain Range, the Japanese were only 32 miles from...
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