GALLIPOLI RECALLED

Wairarapa Times-Age, 1 November 1943, Page 4

GALLIPOLI RECALLED

IN STORMING OF TREASURY ISLAND AMERICAN MAKES GOOD USE OF BULLDOZER. JAPANESE PILLBOX SMASHED. (N.Z.E.F. Official War Correspondent.) TREASURY ISLAND, October 27. Under the very nose of Bougainville, the last and strongest Japanese Solomons bastion, and in a hail of . fire from strongly-defended beaches, stern New Zealanders, stormed the shores of Treasury Island this morning, rekindling the spirit and fire of their fathers’ historic Gallipoli landing 28 years ago. That epic exploit had its modern counterpart today in a magnificent assault by a brigade group commanded by an officer who himself took part in the Gallipoli landing. Though the naval escort’s preliminary barrage before dawn had chased many of the enemy from the beaches, the New Zealanders met heavy opposition as their landing boats tore into a mile-wide strip of coastline. The sky was lit by the brilliant flashes of naval guns and orange streamers from tracer shells, which tore their pointblank course to the beach. Sturdy brazen bunboats steamed slowly inside the harbour entrance, belching shells of all calibres into the jungle, while above the comforting zooming of New Zealand and Allied aircraft kept enemy •bomber interference away.

An American specialist unit accompanied the New Zealand storm troops into this inferno of noise and flame, taking mechanical equipment ashore to smash a way for following guns, munitions and stores. Japanese earth pillboxes sniped many men before and after they landed. An American bulldozer driver headed his huge machine for a pillbox, smashing obstacles aside and screwing in a ninety degree turn on the top of the trapped enemy. This act of courageous ‘ determination eliminated a dangerous post of resistance,, killing and burying five Japanese in one swoop of the bulldozer blade. Despite mortar and mountain gun fire from a Japanese position inland, not a man faltered in the assault, which was inspirational to all who shared in it, and revealed New Zealanders at theii aggressive best. The chance to beard Tojo within sight of the shores of Bougainville was one the New Zealanders had awaited for months and they made the most of it, pushing the enemy back into the jungle, where he was relentlessly pursued during the whole of the first day. . n . This awful baptism of fire will live in memory as long as Pacific battles are talked of. In fifteen minutes the troops established a strong beachhead from which they enlarged their perimeter rapidly. By the end of the first day, the .situation was well in hand and the New Zealanders had woven another splendid part into the glorious history of the Dominion’s fighting men. I am the last man.” AMERICAN ’ NAVY ENTITLED TO MAJOR SHARE OF CREDIT. ACCORDING TO AUSTRALIAN CORRESPONDENT. (Special Australian Correspondent.) (Received This Day, 1.10 p.m.) SYDNEY, This Day. The major share of the credit for the Allied landing in the Treasury Island group, in the Northern Solomons, last Wednesday, must go to the United States Navy. It was a classic amphibious attack, perfectly planned, executed and carried out under the noses of the Japanese forces 20 miles away, in Shortland Island. —This appreciation of the landings on Mono and Stirling islands, by American and New Zealand forces, is made today by an Australian war correspondent in the Solomons. Warships, ranging from cruisers to gunboats, took part under strong fighter protection. Before any Japanese planes were sighted, the main body of the Allied warships and transports were scores of miles away, returning to then’ bases. The actual landing was lef by a New Zealander, Warrant Officer M. I. Harper, who piloted the first gunboat ashore. Warrant Officer Harper is an Australian Navy man, twice decorated by the Americans. He also led the attack on Guadalcanal and Rendova. His gunboat silenced some Japanese opposition and shielded the first wave of Allied troops ashore. Our men landed with only the lightest casualties, following our bombardment by escorting destroyers. Overhead American and New Zealand fighters provided an air umbrella. The “Sydney Morning Herald” today describes the Allied occupation of Mono, within 50 miles of the big Japanese base on Bougainville, as “a spectacular challenge to the enemy.” The A.I.F. particularly, says the “Herald,” will welcome the New Zealand troops’ part in the operation, which represents a further important step against Rabaul, the hinge of the whole Japanese defence line in the South-West Pacific.

‘‘The landings at Mono and Choiseul suggest that the Allies mean to press home their already intensified air attacks on Rabaul and are seeking ,to come to closer grips with the enemy in that stronghold,” adds the “Herald.” “The plan has all the marks of a design to force the enemy to abandon Bougainville, in the same manner as he was forced to evacuate Kolombangara, after it had been bypassed and neutralised. It is not to be expected that the Japanese will sit down calmly under the threat.) It is certain that they will exert themselves to the utmost to maintain their position, and some observers believe that the Allied threat to Rabaul may bring the main Japanese battle fleet out from Truk—a decision which the American Navy for months has been trying to bring about. However, while the present co-ordinated operations in Northern New Guinea and the Solomons illustrate the resurgent power of the Allies to wage a war of attrition, they must not be regarded as more than an effort to win vantage points for greater battles yet to be joined, when Britain and the United States concentrate their full might in the Pacific.”