PACIFIC NOTEBOOK

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 6, Issue 73, 18 May 1943, Page 7

PACIFIC NOTEBOOK

By Robin Miller SUVA, FIJI There is no invasion complex in Fiji now. but the colony .still •wonders why the Japanese failed to arrive in the months after Pearl Harbour. when New Zealand was hastily strengthening the garrison force, here in the face of frightening difficulties in the delivery of equipment. Fiji would, have fought back with the little she had, but a really serious invasion attempt could not have been stemmed. The colony breathed with relief when the Japanese did not arrive and as its islands were steadily certified by the United States and New Zealand as a vita: link in the chain of Pacific defences. Fiji's key strategical position aeros the supply lines to the south and southwest Pacific must have, been obvious to the enemy, and many people put his failure to seize the opportunity down to crass stupidity. 15ut in the light of what- Ave have learned about him since, the more probable, answer is that it was beyond his means. He could not go to Fiji for the .same reason that he could not go back to Pearl Harbour —-his resources and communications were too heavily taxed by the campaigns he was undertaking through the Philippines, Malaya and. the Dutch Fast Indies. Now. with the feeling that any immediate threat has disappeared, Fiji is thinking of tlip war in terms . other than those of home defence. She lias gone, offensive-minded. She . wants to send.'her highly-trained New Zealand-Fijian army and commando forces beyond her own shores and to fight the Japanese on their own ground. 1 have already told in my despatches the story of tlie.se remarkable native soldiers wlio were born and bred to jungle life and Jiave been taught by Nbw Zealanders to blend their innate uiu'aniw skill with the art of modern Avarfare. Their strength in numbers must remain secret, but it would not be an exaggeration to .say that they could do as mucli damage to the enemy in the jungle as an all-European force three.' times. the size. American lield commanders who used a g small party of the New Zealand- 1 Fiji Commandos for patrol work on j Guadalcanal were amazed at their 1 "jungle sense" and lighting prowess and askeel for more. More New Zealanders arc still ser\-ing in Fiji tlian many jieople realise, for when our expeditionary force here was, relieved by the Americans last year a considerable group of New Zealand commissioned and non-commissioned officers and men was absorbed, into ttie Fiji Defence Force, now known —and perhaps the change is significant of the offen-sive-minded existing here —as the Fiji Military Forces. In the commando and infantry units they lead and instruct the native troops, and they man the static anti-aircraft and coastal artillery positions. The Fiji detachment of the Royal New Zealand Air Force, which pioneered air reconnaissance and patrols in the central South Pacific, is in its tliird year of .sen-ice here on the monotonous but essential job of searching the sea approaclies. and escorting ships as they come, and go. For the air force, Fiji is: also a training ground for service in the Solomons. After gaining valuable experience here, air crews move on eventually to Guadalcanal, where life is" a lot less comfortable but the Avar is satisfyingly close. The promise of Solomons .service is an antidote to boredom. Across the main island of the Fij,i group the New Zealand flyers run what I heard, an American call "the rocking-chair ferry." This is an air transport service which saves hours of dusty, tortuous travel by road, and is maintained by old and hoary dc Havilland aircraft which used to fly the internal air routes in New Zealand. No one. can ride in one without a feeling of love at first sight, for among all the sleek modern Avarplanes: the de Havilland ferry is like a dear old. lady surrounded by glamour girls. It lifts you gently from the ground, (lies you gently across the mountains, and sets you gently down again. Long ago, when there was, nothing better available, it Avas drafted ! from civilian life, given a coat of war paint fitted Avitli bomb racks and. shipped to Fiji for coastal defence service. Up-to-date patrol' bombers then shouldered it out of the an ay. but it stayed in uniform and became a base wallah. Its flown miles have passed the million mark, its dying hours run'into thousands —but, as its pilot says, "there's, life in the old, girl yet" •