ARMY EXERCISES

Wairarapa Times-Age, 4 October 1941, Page 6

ARMY EXERCISES

OFFENSIVE OPERATIONS CLOSE AIR SUPPORT. NEW ZEALANDERS' STAGE MOCK ATTACK. (Official War Correspondent N.Z.E.F.) AT A DESERT CAMP, Sept.. 10. The all-important prospect of close air support in future actions seemed to New Zealand troops never brighter than in further offensive exercises which have just been carried out. .As the climax of a period of intensive instruction in combined operations, a New Zealand brigade was landed on beaches by navy crews to launch a large-scale mock attack under cover of aircraft. United States Army observers watched American-built planes of the fast, heavily-armed and versatile fighterbomber type throw a protective and aggressive screen above and in front of the advancing-troops. It was the I fullest and most heratening demonstration of co-operation between the three services in which our men have ever taken part. Except that it began-’afler dawn, the mock battle was generally similar to that which I saw launched by another brigade a few weeks ago. Fleets of invasion craft took the troops to the beaches in the same spectacular way, and in a matter of seconds the men had leaped from the boats and were pushing forward in extended formation. At one beach, where the water was too shallow to permit the craft to touch the shore, hundreds of infantrymen jumped in and waded the rest of the way. While more men and then guns and transport were being landed, the forward troops pressed their advance through a lingering smokescreen. Then the Royal Air Force went into action, with planes hurtling one after another a few feet overhead and strafing the ground in front of the infantry, and others wheeling and diving over the force’s objective. That was the stuff to give the troops. They enjoyed it as a spectacle, but more than that they sensed the comfortable air of “possessiveness” which roqring, low-flying planes seem able to create in the sky. It was like the Crete picture reversed, and there seems every reason to hope that the picture will remain that way. The few weeks which each of our brigades and supporting formations have been spending in this combined services training have proved at once among the most valuable and the most pleasant in their experience. Naval officers pay tribute to the eagerness and quickness with which they learn each new routine. Aquatic sports have been liberally intermingled with the military exercises as a form of training as well as recreation. Competitions in loading and unloading the landing boats not only provide amusement but also encourage deftness in the use of the craft. Apart from that kind of activity, there has been keen rivalry among the units in such sports as polo matches and rowing, swimming and lifesaving races. Last week this brigade staged one of the best water carnivals ever seen in the N.Z.E.F. Heats and eliminations occupied several days and the finals took a whole morning to complete. They were watched by a tightly packed crowd of men cheering their unit representatives through a series of exciting events. Enthusiasm reached its peak over races between naval pulling boats, in which the hefty, barebacked New Zealand crews straining at the oars made a splendid sight. A totalisator vzas established for this event, which made it all the more keenly fought. An “outsider” which would have paid £l6 for 5s reached the finals, but the field was led home by a crew worth only half that price. Facilities for the carnival were arranged by the Royal Navy detachment, which entered representatives in several events. Prize money was donated by the National Patriotic. Fund Board. There ig something fascinating about the wail of a siren, whether it is fitted to a police car or, as is more common here, used as an air raid warning. Hand operated sirens have been adopted by our units, and although we have not been bombed the alarm has often been sounded when raids are made elsewhere. They make such an intriguing noise that sometimes there is even a dispute as to whose turn .it is “to wind her up.” Out of one battalion’s headquarters the other night flew two men racing neck and neck in the direction of the siren. A group standing close by realised that a raid warning had been received by telephone and joined in the chase, which ended in a mad scramble between half a dozen or more for the first grip on the siren’s handle.