N.Z. AIR OMITS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 6, Issue 73, 18 May 1943, Page 6

N.Z. AIR OMITS

TJie nature of tlie work of the R.N.Z.A.F. personnel stationed at bases in the South-west .Pacific varies greatly. Some are flying .reconnaissance bombers, others fighters, and others flying boats. Some are

carrying out sea reconnaissance and X?atrols, others convoy operations, and others arc engaged, for the greater part of their time in operational training and exercises.

The members ot some squadrons •—much to their chagrin, it must be said—have as yet seen nothing of the enemy. Others have been under lire from the Japanese, including Japanese land, sea and air forces, and have had the supreme satisfaction of hitting back.

The New Zealanders in the Solomons have already compiled an impressive record of service. It must be remembered that the primary duty of bomber reconnaissance aircraft. is to search for the; enemy— to find his surfacc ships and submarines, to ascertain as far as possible where, they are going, and to give this information to other units which comprise the striking force. They assist in the movements of

convoys by carrying out. searches for lurking submarines or raiders, and if necessary they can bomb such enemy vessels; If they arc attacked. by enemy aircraft, they can defend themselves with a useful armament, but their chief responsibility is; to bring back informa-

tion, not to conduct private wars of their own. In the succinct Avords of one pilot, if they arc attacked by Japanese, fighters tliey "put the nose down and get to hell out of it." They have carried out night bombing raids against Japanese island bases. More important still are the successes against the enemy in which their activities played a leading part.

Their reconnaissance have revealed important Japanese shipping movements,, and from the information they have reported American air and sea forces in the Solomons area have been able to intercept the enemy and attack with great success. The Americans have paid striking tributes to the co-opera-tion given by the R.N.Z.A.F. operating in this area. They are impressed by their officiencj', enthusiasm, and particularly bj r the accuracy of their reports. A high degree of navigational skill is required to locate with certainty the exact positon and course of a ship or a group of ships at sea, and unless such are accurate, a force sent out. to intercept and, attack such ships may waste valuable time and petrol on an exasperating search. They may even miss the enemy altogether, Hunting Snipers The New Zealanders take; a great pride in the accuracy of their navigation, and if they locate a group of Japanese ships they arc prepared to take bets,, nor whether the American dive bombers or heavier bombers will find them, but how many they will sink. Such an actual instance. occurred quite recently, and it speaks volumes, not only for the confidence of the New Zealanders in themselves, but also for mutual confidence between the. Allied, forces there. Quite apart from Service activities, life in the Solomons has a peculiar interest—at least it did have until the Japanese were cleared out. There was always the possibility of the stray sniper slipping through the American lines and shooting up a camp, and occasionally all hands would join in a sniper hunt. Many of these proved to be false alarms, but one. is never very far from the alert when the front lin,e is little more than half a mifc away. Then again, one could usually hear boomrngs and hangings from the forward positions, and although this became too familiar to> warrant any notice, there was some satisfaction in replying to a querulous complaint: "Don't you know there's a war on?" with the brief remark: "Yes. I can hear it."

Thi» phase of li/e has ended. M-vnrt' O , OR . fJle war J ias not f h"rr> Japanese sti.ll carry out bombng raids—mostly at niglit— n:' ; ■ U - aircraft still go out to at-

tack the Japanese. : The central figure of the Japanese night bombing is "Washing Machine Charlie" —-so called because of the peculiar sound of his chronised engines. The title does not 1 belong to any one individual Jap--1 a nose —it. belongs to the particular brand of bomber which carries out • this type of nuisance raid. His pur- ' pose is to keep people awake, rather ' than to do any great military dam- ■ age. But how he pales into insignificance in comparison with the roar of Allied aircraft as they take t off in long processions to go about t their tasks of smashing airfields, - bases, ships and any other target - the Japanese have to offer.