PACIFIC NOTEBOOK

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 6, Issue 71, 11 May 1943, Page 7

PACIFIC NOTEBOOK

Tliis is the first of a series of per- B sonal glimpses behind the recent 9 lull in the South Pacific war. j| By Robin Miller. At sea. fl There are two ways of getting up 8 to the war in the Pacific. If 3-011 fl have to be. on Guadalcanal to-morroAV I night, you may board a plane in fl New Zealand this morning and do it fl in two easy eight-hour hops", with S a gooil night's rest in New Cale- a donia. B That makes the war and the Japanese seem a lot closer than most people, realise. "It would not be impossible for a big bomber with blood red markings on its Avings and extra fuel tanks in its belly to fly down from the Solomons nonstop—and still with enough high explosives to shake Auckland considerably. Of course, it would, be unable to fly back again, and therefore both plane and crew would have to be 9 classified by the enemy as "expend- fl able." But he could easily dQ that fl if he wanted to show us that our I immunity from air attack has been fl hanging on a pretty slender thread. 9 On the other hand it might /do us more good than harm—cause more damage to complacency than to cities. In the meantime, our side 'is doing all the flying between New Zea- ' land and the Solomons, and that is the ■way to get there quickly. Once you have obtained what the Americans call a priority—and it is much ' easier to get a new tyre for your B car—you may soon find yourself re- I clining high above, the Pacific in fl the sound sound-proofed luxury of B a flyling boat, or more likely .jam- fl med in amongs harp cornered pack- fl ing cases in a draughty Dmigla? 'if transport, or sprawled on mail bags in a New Zealand Lockheed-Hudson fl going back after overhaul. fl It will all be over very quickly, fl but you will never have known such fl concentrated, boredom. Everything fl is, boring, from the drone of the B motors • after you hnve stopped im- B agining misfires, coughs and seiz- fl ures,, to the. utter emptiness of the fl sea that seems to pass so slowly be!- fl neatli you. fl The other way of getting there is 3 by ship, and there is a new kind of fl adventure about wartime sea jour- fl ncys that the travel advertisements I are unable to exploit. It makes fl maritime hitch hiking, which, at A times when he is not permitted, to fly, is a Avar correspondent's second profession, an intriguing business. There, are no* schedules to consult < nor travel agencies to help you plan your journey ahead. You go to such-and-such a place in one ship, get off there and wait for another ship to take you all 01* part of the rest of the way. You ju;t*t gamble, on making a connection. You're on a naval auxiliary now, but you may yet see the war from a liberty ship, a tanker, a tug or a sampan. ■ The charter of the ships themselves has changed out. of all recog- _ nition. Commercially operated, passenger vessels are a rarity. Ships that once were passenger liners and l'.ow sail under the navy's flag have been stripped mercilessly of very luxury,, in the name of practicability. The day when New Zealand privates went to war in de luxe cabins is only a legend now. A ship is boiled down to the basic elements —a hull, an engine, and places to sleep and eat and carry cargo arjcl mount guns. A lounge bccomcs aj dormitory; six beds, in tiers aie crammed into cabins that vised to hold one or two. But the, ship is serving its pur-t pose, and its purpose is single and clear-I—tol—to get you no longer where you want to go, but •where you have got to go, and to* keep all this food and aviation fuel and equipment pouring into the. hungry mouths of war. When that, is over, you, wil'l get back the bright lights and music-—and lose all this intriguing mystery that surrounds a wartime journey by sea. j