LED ASSAULT CRAFT

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 5, 1 October 1943, Page 5

LED ASSAULT CRAFT

New Zealander In Italian Campaign, (By Telegraph. -Press Acsu — Copyright.) (Special Correspondent.) (Received September 30, 10.10 p.m.) LONDON. September 29. A 21-year-old New Zealander was the first man to land on the Italian mainland after zero hour at one of the assault beaches in the invasion of Italy. He was Sub-Lieutenant G. H. Larner, R.N.Z. N.V.R., Auckland, who was commanding an infantry landing-craft. The previous night the Admiral boarded his ship and told Larner that he and his fellow-com-manding officer, Sub-Lieutenant Terence Doyle. R.N.V.R., Eire, who were the two youngest commanding officers of the flotilla, were to have the honour of leading in the infantry landing-craft to the beaches. Larner’s craft actually led in the assault, with assault craft lashed on either side. He said: “It was pretty awe-in-spiring when we went in. There always seemed to be at least two red tracers overhead. It was impossible to take one’s eyes from the night-glasses for a second without being dazzled. Once there was a tremendous flash from the mainland. We thought for a moment that they were opening up on us, but it was only an ammunition dump exploding. “It was deadly quiet when the barrage dropped and the smoke was .absolutely impenetrable. Luckily I had been able to get transit on a pylon ashore and was able to take in others. I was so excited I jumped ashore as soon as we touched. It'was not till I saw the Canadian sappers whom we had brought going up the beach witli ‘tuning forks’ that I remembered about mines. I reboarded iu pretty quick time. Those Canadians went ashore like lions.” Larner had an exciting tune during the Sicilian invasion when his. craft took Americans into the beaches at Gela. Some German Tiger tanks broke through toward the beaches and engaged the land-ing-craft with gunfire.