FORWARD MOVE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 29 September 1943, Page 2

FORWARD MOVE

BY NEW ZEALAND TROOPS IN PACIFIC SUCCESSFUL LANDING. ANNOUNCED BY PREMIER. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) WELLINGTON, This Day. An announcement that the New Zealand troops in the Pacific had moved to a forward area was made last night by the Prime Minister, Mr Fraser. He said that bombing had constituted the first contact with the enemy, and that so far our forces had suffered no casualties or damage. Landing operations had been carried out without incident, and the men were in excellent health and spirits. LOCATION GIVEN NEW ZEALAND FORCE IN GUADALCANAL. EXPERIENCE OF JAPANESE NUISANCE BOMBING. (Official War Correspondent, N.Z.E.F.) GUADALCANAL (No date given). Japanese bomber aeroplanes gave New Zealand troops in the Pacific their first taste of combat verj, soon after the Division’s arrival in the forward area. In the light of a full moon, odd emissaries from Tojo’s air force held a reception for the new arrivals on several nights during the first ten days, and though the New Zealanders suffered no damage or casualties, the boom of a few poorly-directed bombs and the roar of anti-aircraft guns sent the men in hot haste for their foxholes. It does not pay to be curious in an air raid. Anti-aircraft guns have a nasty habit of showering shrapnel over a wide area, as a few New Zealanders, craning their necks in the air learned early in the piece. The whine and “plink” of bits of shrapnel are a sobering influence on the most adventurous souls. Cooks at one camp found a sizeable chunk of shell outside the open fireplace one morning. One man stopped a crack on the shoulder on his first night ashore. The jolt was the worst part of it. As a gentle introduction to realistic war, the noises of Tojo’s visits were warmly appreciated. As a temporary disturber of a night’s sleep they had some slight nuisance value. As a demonstration of Japanese formidability they were an unqualified failure.