AUSSIE COMMANDOS

Grey River Argus, 1 June 1943, Page 3

AUSSIE COMMANDOS

EXPLOITS IN NEW GUINEA

Daring Westralian Leader

(Special to N.Z. Press Assn.) (Rec. 5.5.) SYDNEY, May 31. Australian Commandos are . lighting in New 1 Guinea against, basic odds less than forty to one. One Australian Commando unit, which harried the Japanese for several months in the Lae-Salamaua-Mubo

area in New Guinea, killed more than; five hundred of the enemy lon the loss of only twelve of its own men. This unit, commanded bv a twenty-five year-old West Australian, Lieutenant Colonel Norman Fleay, made an epic raid on Salamaua last

June. , _ , With an announcement that. Lieutenant Colonel Fleay has been awarded the D.S.O. for his resource, daring and devotion to duty, the story of h’s unit’s exploits has now been released Liuet. Colonel Fleay, after his return from service in Libya, Greece and Crete, with the Sixth Division of the A.1.F., took his independent Commando company to Wau in March of last year. Before the Salamaua raid, he led a reconnaissance party of five officers, who , sneaked into the town and counted

the Japanese there. “We then took a picket detachment of seventy bren and tommy-gunners into Salamaua at eight o’clock one night, f ’ a \ s ' ' Fleay, telling the story of the raid. “For five 'hours we hid under houses, listening to Japanese walking above us. At one o’clock I fired a yerey pistol, 'to signal an attack. Simultaneously, every Japanese sentry was shot dead. Then we threw grenades into every enemy-occupied house. Each Japanese who came out was killed. We fired three hundred rounds from our mortar.” i Lieutenant Colonel Fleay continued- “By dawn, we held th e place absolutely; but the Japanese could bring reinforcements quickly from Lae,” so 1 I decided to move out. We had killed one hundred Japanese without loss to ourselves, and had captured many valuable documents. Within half an hour of our departure, Japanese fighter planes began a search for us, and we had to dodge them for hours. One of our party was missing, but he turned up two days later. He had not heard the signal withdraw, because he was hunting for souvenirs.” Lieut. Colonel Fleay’s unit raided Mubo on several occasion. Once a scout went into the village with a box camera, and photographed tne Japanese garrison, who were lined up for mess parade. These Commandos fought a lone campaign almost up to the time that the enemy made their recent unsuccessful bid' to capture Wau. Then they shared in the work of driving the Japanese back to Mubo. Only , after this had been done did their leader return to Australia on leave. Apart from the five hundred enemy killed, this independent unit cost the Japanese a considerable number of casualties., Once Lieut. Colonel Fleay was himself missing tor some days' When a junior officer was wounded he held off pursuing Japanese, and took to the bush, after killing -three. On the fourth day, . he reached food supplies, and that night encountered a party of his own men, who had set out to scat ch lot i.m.

GOOD “MOPPERS’’

Papuan Infantrymen

SYDNEY. May 28. The grandsons of the Ne.w Guinea head-hunters are . to-day All l ed diers fighting against the J, a P an ® s r e in their native jungles. They me members of the Papuan infantry yho hart their first encounter with tne Japanese a ffiw days after Landing at Buna and Gona m July last vear. Since then, they have seen "action on several occasions “Tinn’t trv to glamorise these men ” said one of their Australian Officers “They are . not supermen and have definite limitations, but they are particularly good in ways, especially in mopping-up opeiatFolTowing the cessation of organised enemy resistance in Papua in. January, native troops combed tie jungle" swamps for escaping Japanese In February alone, they killed 300 of the enemy. The only field decoration ever awaided to .a New Guinea native has been gamed bv a member of this unit, f-® ' geant, now Warrant Officer, K atu >‘' huge ebonv-coloured man, aged 08, who received the Military Medal for his exploits of moving through Japanese lines soon after the Buna lai ?7 in* and bringing back valuable information enabling the Australians to hinder the enemy’s advance considerably. —.—-