ACROSS THE PACIFIC

Wairarapa Times-Age, 16 June 1942, Page 4

ACROSS THE PACIFIC

AMERICAN TRANSPORTS FEW THRILLS. MEN EAGER FOR ACTION. This despatch, was cabled to the Sunday Times, London, by Mr William Courtenay, a special correspondent with the American Forces in the south-west Pacific war zones. He describes the journey across the Pacific in convoy with “many thousands of American soldiers, airmen and ground crews, and even negro stevedore battalions.” Our crossing for thousands of miles was exciting but uneventful., with no halts, says Mr Courtenay. No land was sighted throughout the voyage in beautiful blue Pacific waters, convoyed by leaping flying fish and the ever vigilant ships of war. The most dramatic erperiences were sighting strange vessels, which in peace-time would be welcome; in wartime a strange sail or smoke makes the hearts of all on board stand still till the stranger’s identity is assured. All ships in the convoy and the strangers play for tactical position until recognition signals have been exchanged. Another experience was being in a storm on the last two days of the voyage, with visibility at zero and a gale blowing at 70 miles an hour on the surface for 48 hours. The ship lost touch with the convoy and the naval escorts, and ploughed through heavy seas alone safely to her destination. REPORTS OF SUBMARINES. As we sailed from the Pacific coast of America reports of submarines in the vicinity were received. It was said that on the second night out one rose 50 feet from our bow and crashdived in our track. Nothing else was seen until at a later stage a large dark patch on the water caused excitement, as it was believed to be tell-tale oil, but it proved to be a great accumulation of pumice from subterranean rumblings in the Pacific bed, where atolls and reefs constantly appear and disappear in Oceania. Life on board revolved round the messing arrangements, as meals were organised as a “continuous performance” to ensure that each deck was fed satisfactorily. One-way traffic was arranged on all decks to facilitate easy jnovements and avoid congestion, especially at the daily lifeboat fire drill. This took 35 minutes at the first attempt, but . after disciplined rehearsal the time, was reduced to 12 minutes for clearing the whole ship. EXCELLENT FOOD. The food was extraordinarily abundant and varied, contrasting sharply with my first experience of trooping to Gallipoli in the last war. Talks with the troops during the voyage revealed that large numbers had never seen the ocean before and few ever taken a sea voyage. Many were from mid-West States. The whole arrangements for the voyage were wisely kept secret, so that the troops had no inkling of their destination. Units were trained as a tactical formation, seasoned and ready to go into action anywhere, with their equipment accompanying them. The Japanese have some surprises coming to them when they see America’s latest aircraft in action. The health of the troops was excellent, though each transport had a well-equipped hospital for occasional cases. Ours was built in a former cocktail lounge and cocktail bar, complete with brass rail. Frosted glass mermaids intended for decorations were used for dispensing medicine over the counter. There was surprisingly little seasickness, although all the men were land lubbers. When the storm broke toward the end of the voyage—the convoy commander told me it was one of the worst he had experienced in 38 years at sea —all had their sea legs and none was sick. SUNDAY SERVICES. None knew the course or the day's run, so all took to studying the stars to try to determine our likely position. Each deck had its hour for- exercise, and deck guards’ duties were eagerly sought to have extra time on the only promenade deck. Negroes sang spirituals at Sunday services on deck, and all the troops were thrilled at the experience of the long voyage and safe arrival at the journey’s end. All looked forward to quick action, most agreeing that they would be out of America for well over two years. The journalists in our convoy constituted the first uniformed batch of war correspondents sent across the Pacific by Washington. We each contributed an article to the ship’s paper. The whole trip was memorable for the orderly manner of the organisation, the cruise-like comfort of the Pacific crossing in brilliant sunshine, and the knowledge that we were fighting on the farthest-flung fronts.