No BLIMPS THIS TIME

New Zealand Listener, Volume 9, Issue 227, 29 October 1943, Page 13

No BLIMPS THIS TIME

Visiting British General Looks Ahead

EW ZEALAND has just been visited by a British Military, Naval and Air Mission, whose express purpose has been to find out how warfare in the Pacific and in the East differs from warfare in Europe. Its members were chosen for their practical ‘understanding of the various branches of service, on land, sea and air, and they joined combatant units in the Solomons when they were there. Already they have made recommendations for modifications of equipment, or tactics, or training, and some of these are being put into effect. The mission was first planned as a British venture, but was joined by American officers, who have been co-operating in the same investigations. The Listener was invited to the only Press interview given in New Zealand, and our representative met MajorGeneral’ J. S. Lethbridge, who is leading the mission. ae He % "[N Great Britain this year we saw that the end of the war with Germany was something we could count on, and that we could start thinking in terms of a war against Japan," said MajorGeneral Lethbridge. "And naturally we didn’t want to get caught flat-footed over on this side of the world, so this mission was planned. It’s one of the first steps to fulfilling Mr. Churchill’s promise that as soon as the war in Europe is won; every man, warship, plane, and tank will be transferred to the Pacific to beat Japan." "There’s absolutely no question about this, you know," he added. "In the first placé," he continued, "this mission was sent round Great Britain to see just what was regarded there are the latest piece of equipment for a certain job, or the latest method of training for another job. Then we did the same in the States and in Canada. So you see we came absolutely loaded with theory!" The General’s whimsical. smile at this thought was something we should like to have been able to reproduce; he had no solemn illusions about the value of theories. Theories in Practice "Then we took our theories off to the Solomons, and spent a fortnight there. Our infantry officer joined the infantry, and our gunner joined the artillery; and so on. I had one of every kind of animal, you see. We were in Vella Lavella with your New Zealanders, and some of our chaps were in combat with them there. In Munda I walked all the fronts myself, and saw what was going on. "Then you've already begun to test the theories you brought against the practical side that you’ve seen? Can we be told anything about the results?" "Most of the things I can tell you are so obvious that you've probably thought of them already. For instance, our men in the North African desert think of ranges of 2500 yards, whereas in tropical jungle it’s a question of 20 or 30 yards. It doesn’t take a munitions expert to work out what that will mean.

"Are you making recommendations on these matters already, or will all that wait until you get back?" "No, it will certainly not wait. We make recommendations whenever we can safely reach a final conclusion. "Our naval tactics and aircraft designs will be subject to revision, of course-not that we haven’t known that already. For instance, units that have always operated from well equipped bases will have to learn how to manage with extemporised bases. And our pilots must learn how to find their way to the target without pathfinders. "But one of the biggest problems of all is to find suitable places for training. We need to train our men in climates resembling the climates they’ll fight in, but the difficulty is to find a place that’s jungle but not malarious. There’s no sense in having casualties before your battle begins, and so we want to find places that are hot and sticky but not malarious." Our Climate’s Too Good! "Have you looked at the New Zealand bush?" "IT know New Zealand well-and I love it. But your climate’s too good." Courtesy failed at this point, and the General discovered he was being laughed at. "Oh, I can tell you- it’s good i see grey skies for a change! But seriously, your bush, as you call it, wouldn’t train men for the tropics. . "However, that’s something we're still investigating. In the meantime, your people might be glad to know that recommendations from us have gone to England already, as I’ve told you, and there are instances where production has actually been switched over from specifically anti-German to specifically anti- Japanese." "We could call that long-term planning, I suppose?" "No. Not so very long-term. We don’t expect it to be much longer now, but-" here the General paused a moment. Then he said: "But look here, don't you let anyone get away with the idea that the rest is easy. You can lose a football match in the last 15 minutes, as you New Zealanders well know."