N.Z. ARMY

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 6, Issue 46, 9 February 1943, Page 3

N.Z. ARMY

ITS AMAZING GROWTH MATERIAL POURS IN TO ARM MEN . As the tempo of battle rises everywhere with ;t.he opening of 1943, and we in New Zealand see all around us the signs of a nation at war, one's mind slips back across more than two years; of Army service to note the contrast of then and now in arms., equipment and training. As yet., of course, the full story of the amazing growth of our military resources in New Zealand cannoit be told, but some aspects of it, as one soldier has seen it, may be of interest.

Mobilisation Camp, lOctober 1940, and almost an historic aura about the equipment one received—overcoat made in 1917; web equipment pattern of 1907, and manufactured in 1916; tin hat that had already been in battle more: than 20 years before; rifle long encased in'grease, and a scarred veteran as, to some of its parts. And, those: not to have and to hold —some of the items had to be passed on to incoming units for their training. Ammuniilion was scarce., firing practices few, armoured vehicles (represented solely by Bren carriers) unusual sights.

That we even had that much Avas perhaps remarkable. Remember that the. Battle of France was lost, the miracl'c of Dunkirk performed, and Britain was-concentrated on staving oft' defeat under the ceaseless hammering of the Blitz. Through 1941 the drain on material went on, in the fluctuating struggle in Libya, the fierce fighting in, and eventual withdrawal, from Greece and Crete, to say nothing of the urgent rearmament: programme which had to be carried out in Britain itself. . Still, one began to see advances in 1941, as, despite an ever-increas-ing call on Allied products everywhere, and the building up of the Army in New Zealand, to unprecedented numbers, personal arms and equipment on a modern scale were jirovided. More light, armoured vehicles began to appear with the- Territorial units, and the first tanks were seen in this country—just a few, certainly, coincident with the formation of the N.Z. Armoured Fighting Vehicles School, and the creation of the N.Z. Army Tank Brigade, based on what is to-day New Zealand's biggest camp. In it-> self that camp is a token of the progress made. Two years ago the first permanent buildings hardly shown upon the original countryside.. To-day it is a modern town, staiiding on the edge of scores, of thousands of acres upon which Nature has provided all the vagaries of terrain necessary for training the variegated services of a modern army. Through 1942 one was privileged to witness some of the fruits of perseverance, organisation and training which have gone to provide an effective fighting force for the Dominion, while still maintaining a full contribution to the Allied, militaiy pool in the far places of the earth. Here are some vignettes, of training in N.Z. which stand out in one's memories of the year just passed : —■ 4 Scores of tanks making a -devil's din as they manoeuvre out across the waste of scrub and tussock to radioed orders from field headquarters. Tanks spitting shells and bullets into moving targets. A Scarlet Pimpernel ("now you see it, now you don't"') view of the horizon from a tank during manoeuvres. Fifteen ton transporters Avith a 25 ton tank load on a 200 mile trip. In , another part of the country, a long line, of light tanks being taken over by a Light Armoured Fighting Vehicles Regiment fov duty in New Zealand. Tin many plaoes, tracked carriers rolling across country in support of infantry equipped with —well, all the modern small arms you have heard of. Infantry, training in another role, roughing U in the back country, using their weapons, to provide food. A brigade and more of mechanised field artillery raising the dust over miles of road on a cross country convoy, guns and limbers swaying behind the, queer looking 'quads' which tow them at 30 miles! an hour. The same guns at live round practice, pitching shells on to an invisible target over the hills—the concentrated liery Hash, the whispering hiss of the departing shell, and the thump on the chest, coincident with the sound of the discharge. Planes roaring down in mock bombing attacks and ground strafes as tanks advance below them, zooming away with wings tilted to clear the hillside. Infantry in slit tren-

dies peppering a drogue target towed by a plane during anti-aircraft fire praetice., Anti-tank guns by the dozen in tow of their trucks, or on carriers. Again, their youthful' crews springing to it toi get their guns into action at live shell exercises. Nippy little armoured scout cars made, in Elngland and American Jeeps busily about their odd jobs during manoeuvres); crash-helmeted despatch riders taking their motorcycles into tough places in all -weathers with the aplomb of, professional stunters. Through all these scenes weaves the everyday cavalcade of man 3' types of other mechanical transport, each there for a particular job— mobile, field workshop trucks, field ambulances, wireless signal units,

tracked troop carriers, quarternfasters" trucks, supply wagons of all weights, sizes and designs, transporting food, fuel, ammunition and a multiplicity of equipment.

That was a part- of the military activity in New Zealand in 1942 as one observer saw it, and contrasted it with his first Army contacts in 1940. It may provide at least, portion pf the answer for those' who, wonder in what state of prepared-' ness New Zealand faces her fourth, year of war. _____ I