TAKROUNA HILL

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 70, Issue 81, 13 June 1944, Page 5

TAKROUNA HILL

MAORIS' EXPLOIT IN BATTLE HEIGHT SCALED AND FORT CAPTURED AFTER FIERCE CLOSEQUARTER FIGHTING 'Climbing hand over hand in daylight 600 feet up a sheer-sided pinnacle into the' mountain stronghold of Takrouna, five Maori soldiers began one ol' the fiercest episodes of close-quarter fighting which New Zealanders have seen in this war. Part of the Enf'daville line, Takrouna was thought to be impregnable, but these Maori infantry .men showed a courage and gallantry which won for them high tribute in all parts of the English-speaking world. The height was scaled on! April 24, 1943. Eleven of the first scaling party of Maoris were all from the same district of New Zealand and the 12th was a sergeant of a sister battalion. One Maori sergeant was killed, another sergeant shell-shocked and only one Maori sergeant and one private returned unscathed out of that original 12. Acting on his own initiative 1 while the fighting was confused, a Maori sergeant took four of his men and began to scale the precipitous southern end of the heights, at the top of which enemy pockets were holding out in a fort and among a group of stone buildings. From the plain below the action, Takrouna fortress and its outer buildings looked like the Acropolis on its commanding hill, but Takrouna was much less accessible. Climbed Up Hand Over Hand Steadily the Maoris climbed towards it, often hand over hand, while the enemy above tried to shoot them down. On and on> they went, holding back some of their strength for a final dash when they reached the top. Once there, the party, now increased to 12, w T ent rapidly into action, intimidating into submission about 100 1 Italians who were, occupying this important strategical position.* The captured Italians were quickly sent back behind our lines. Throughout the rest of, the day the enemy shelled and mortared the pinnacle, but could not dislodge the Maoris. Takrouna then was in the strange, position of being shelled at the same time by both sides, for the enemy still held the remainder of the village on the lower slopes to the north.

Towards dusk the Maoris of the original storming party were, relieved and fresh troops took up the struggle to hold on against such overwhelming odds. That night the enemy—Germans this time —somehow occupied part of the area. They came well armed with mortars,, machine guns and grenades. Then, in the moonlight, bitter fighting for the full possession of the pinnacle began at close quarters. Everything was thrown into it—grenades, matics, bayonets and even rifle butts. Men were hurled over the brink of. the cliff to the flat hundreds of feet below. All through the night the crashing of grenades and mortars and' the stuttering of machine guns echoed across the hills. Enemy Blasted From Pinnacle By first.i light, New Zealanders had carried food, Avater and ammunition up the cliff face. Then, in daylight, the job of blasting the enemy from the pinnacle was handed over to the New Zealand artillery. A single pounder directed from an observation post by the Maoris on the pinnacle fired on the cliff. Round by round the gunfire crept up the cliff face towards the enemy's stronghold on the main point of the. pinnacle. A bare 50 yards from this enemy point our observation post calculated the final shots. As the second of these final shots scored , a direct hit on the building, New Zealand infantry rushed in, only to find the enemy gone. Then the mysterious means by which the enemy had managed to re-enter the pinnacle was revealed. The only ordinary means of access was a flight of steps which, of course, our troops had guarded. Beneath the floor boards they found a tunnel leading to a part of the pinnacle overhanging the rest of the village. Here was a rope ladder, by means of which the German troops had clambered up the cliff face. They had retired by the same route, as our shell-fire crept towards their shelter.

The enemy then began pounding the pinnacle with mortars and shells but the substantial .stone buildings gave the New Zealanders good cover and there were few casualties. Directed from the top of the pinnacle, our guns concentrated their fire on the enemy-held village below for two hcurs, systematically destroying building after building. Just as a big infantry attack to clean out the village was being prepared at last light, the Maoris again went into action. Pulling grenades from their heavily-packed shirts, they tossed them among the terrified Italians. The New Zealand officer in chaige of the pinnacle dashed down with a section of men to investigate and found the Italians again readily throwing up their hands and coming (Continued in next column)

out towards three Maoris. Thus thet amazing battle for Takrouna ended. By the. original resourceful daring of the small Maori party .this important high point with its 18 enemy officers and nearly 400 men was cap* lured.