NAZI TACTICS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 24 May 1941, Page 5

NAZI TACTICS

FAMILIAR TO NEW ZEALAND TROOPS MANNER OF DRESS IMMATERIAL. COPING WITH PARACHUTISTS. (By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright) (N.Z.E.F. Official News Service.) CAIRO. May 22. The reaction of the New Zealand Army to the artifice of wearing its uniform in order to make an attack upon positions that it is holding is simply this: "We know they are Germans, and their manner of dress is immaterial. They are treated the same, as any other Germans.” Parachutists are not exactly a novelty to the New Zealand troops, who have experienced them in Greece, where they attacked by this means at Olympus and the Corinth Canal. On the first occasion several hundred were dropped in the New Zealand lines, dressed in shorts and shirts. They were unfortunate, as. the New Zealand troops were -clad in battle dress and there was no element of surprise as the Germans arrived at 9.30 on. a brigh.t sunny morning and chose a place where our most seasoned troops were deployed. With the aid of automatic weapons quite a few were picked off before they landed, and the remainder were rounded up without difficulty. At Corinth the attack was more methodical and was carried out in greater force. Our troops were rest-

ing and had been dispersed, having just withdrawn across the canal. Suddenly a large number of bombers appeared in the sky. and for nearly three hours they systematically bombed the area. Huge troop-carrying planes then came down to within 209 feet and dropped parachute troops, with a red parachute here and there among them. Round these the men gathered in small units, and they used the bomb craters as cover. Guns and ammunition had been dropped at the same time and. employing these, the Germans provided for the landing of carrier-planes. The New Zealand small-arms fire killed hundreds, but file men that were there could not cope with lite sheer weight of numbers they faced and the armament that suddenly opposed them, so they were forced to retreat. The number of the enemy was estimated at possibly 1000, and they hoped to block our withdrawal byseizing the bottle-neck at Corinth, but in this they were disappointed. In the fierce guerrilla warfare that ensued we were able to retain our advantage for as long as was necessary.