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Chronicle (Levin), 9 March 1946, Page 6

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(New Zealan'd Oificial Correspondent

JAP NAVAL BASE A SORRY SPECTACLE TERRIFIC BOMBING RESULTS

with J Force.) Received Friday 10.30 p.m. KU RE, Feb. 25. When it is established in the liue 'buxldings of the loinxer Japa'nese Navai Coliege on the Island of Etajinia. hal+'-an-honr by harbour ferry from Ivure, Llie New Zealand Brigade will have the. pick of tiie sites alJotted to the British Commonweaith Uccupatioa Force in Japan. The nifiin British force will be based on Kure, but uiay liave its liead quarters 'on Etajima. The. coliege is built along the shores of a landlocked ai'm of the vast Inland Bea of Japan, m which Etajinia and niauy hundreds of other islands lie. Behind the- coliege buildings stands tjie village, Avith its tmy houses sct among tlie trees and gardens, which rise to pine forests on ihe erests of the hills. At first glance, the harbour of Kure resembles Wellington, except that the •hills are higher and there is little vvind, though ' typhoons are seasonal visitors in this region. Today British, American and Austfalian sfiips of war lie at anchor in the roadstead of the uow destroved Japanese fleet.

The buildings of the Naval Coliege cover many acres of flat ground, facing the extensive parade ground, bordered with pine trees. This will makes a spacious sports area- for th.e New Zealand troops The main buildings, three storevs higli, are splendidly proportioned and consist of iecture halls, de mOnstration ioonis, g'ymnasiunis, classroo^ns^a|id,tan .administrati ve blo'ck, all, ;dosigiie# i^ unodern' manner, with open Clief weeii . the wings, which afe ' connec'fed by covcred passageways. There is n'ciy lack of Japanese servaiits to keep clqafi" thd floors and appointinents. One.'Of ihe first buildings encountered ai'tei .paksing the entrance lodge is the ..huge' IhoMtre, which faces the parade gro'urid and the bay. (hose beside the sea wall which lias been lmilt along the foreshore, arc buildings which obviously housc-d Ihe sulnnarine activitics of Ihe coliege, but ihe im-f-hanism with which thev were 'fittcd has been wreeked. Lying close inshore, apposite the Naval Coliege, is on aneient, r.usting training sliip, wliicli dates from the Russo- Japanese War. Near the main ferrv landirig, the superstrueture of a Japanese battleship rises, docks awash, in the water where jshe was sunk. Not far away, also with. docks awash, is the 2'0,993-ton Ise, anotlier vietim of an Allied bombing raid.

But it is at the former great naval base of Kure itself that the New Zcalanders will see evidence of the terrific bombing it received, even though the Japanese. have been basilv (•learing it up for months Today it is a dismal sfieetaele of lmined docks and dookards, repair shops, preeision plmts, mills and factories, over which rise immense steel ganti'ies and cranes, some of which are working again. In one doek are 56 small submarines, rusting in the water. Apart _ from some old training ships and aneient craft which are being pre;)ared for use as tronsnorts to bring Japanese troops baek from Chiiia, the onlv ships of war in l\ ro ri-1 '-ri-r.r'r v , **x-« •»«'.. f , the vast ancnorage belong to the Allied nations.