PACIFIC COMMANDO

Korero (AEWS), Volume 2, Issue 13, 3 July 1944, Page 9

PACIFIC COMMANDO

An Interview with Sgt. C. R. Larsen After his third bout of malaria, which he contracted in New Georgia during the campaign for the capture of Munda airfield, Sergeant Larsen was evacuated to New Caledonia and later invalided home to New Zealand in September, 1943. He had been in charge of the Intelligence Section of an island commando since .its inception and saw action with his unit in the Solomons. He was editor of the unit’s newspaper Guerrilla Gazette. He gave this interview on his return to New Zealand.

The troops in the unit were Fijians and Tongans with New-Zealanders as officers and NCOs,” said Sergeant Larsen. “ They also had some -Islanders and a couple of Englishmen attached ; in fact, with the American attachments and others they had at different stages, the unit had a unique cross-section of races and classes, black and white, from all over the world. He described the 0.C., Major C. W. H. Tripp, as an inspiration to his men, and a born leader: “He still packs a punch that is the envy of men much younger,” he remarked. He thought that Major Tripp, although wounded, was the only one of the unit to last out the New Georgia campaign from start to finish. (It took thirty-five days to capture Munda Field.) " In April of last year the unit arrived in Guadalcanal, where it had been preceded three months earlier by a sample force known as the ' Special Party.' The Special Party, comprising 7 New-Zealanders and 20 Fijians, did excellent work during the tail-end of the Guadalcanal fighting, and it was greatly due to their efforts that the U.S. Command asked for more commandos from Fiji. “ When we left Fiji our personnel included 40 New-Zealanders and about 165 natives, twenty-eight of these being Tongans,” said Larsen, “ but the unit grew considerably on Guadalcanal with the addition of the Special Party, Solomon-Islanders, &c. Captain D. E. Williams, who was in charge of the Special Party, became our 2 i/c, and first-hand information given us by the Special Party sergeants helped us considerably later on. We had the best spot on Guadalcanal for our base camp, and

the general health improved while we were there. However, we were away from our base camp most of the time combing Guadalcanal and other islands in the group for stray Japs. By that time (May-June) the Japs had left that area. The Americans did not like the word ‘ commando ’ so we were known locally as ‘ South Pacific Scouts.’ ” Sergeant Larsen next spoke of the Commando’s work in New Georgia and of the part his unit had played with the American troops in the battle for Munda airfield. “ We were attached to the intelligence section of a United States Div. for the operation, and our primary excuse for being in the push was long-range reconnaissance patrols behind the Jap lines. However, our services were so eagerly sought that we were doing all sorts of operations in addition. We were in the thick of the fighting all the time. We had to have our H.Q. right

in the front line, otherwise the information we obtained would have been old and useless before the Americans could act upon it. “ Only half of the unit left Guadalcanal by destroyer for the initial landing on Baraulu Island at the Onaiavesi passage, in the New Georgia group, and while we combed the outlying islands (Baraulu, Sasavele, and Roviana) for Japanese the Americans made their beach-head at Zanana on the mainland without opposition. Apart from a five-man Jap patrol which I saw shot by the Americans, there was no action on the mainland for the first three days, as the Japs were taken by surprise. “ Captain Scherrer, the American officer with whom we subsequently worked, waited until some of our unit reached the

mainland before he moved forward from the beach-head at Zanana on sth July. “ There were about 36 of us all told in the party that set out up the Munda trail 6 New-Zealanders, 12 Americans, and 18 Fijians, if I remember rightly. Normally we would not travel on a trail, but we had a lot of extra gear to carry, and the Americans had their wireless transmitter. We intended to establish a forward base in the upper reaches of the Bariki River, about three miles from the beach-head. We also wanted to find high ground for the radio transmitter. However, we had hardly

covered a mile when we struck the enemy. The Japs had a machine gun set up on the trail and opened fire on the Americans, who were in the lead at that time. The Americans went to ground and threw grenades.

” After the Japs fired their first burst they withdrew along the track to get in a better position to find out the strength of our force. Lieutenant B. Masefield (one of our officers) came back along the track to organize our attack. After a quick whispered conference he took the lead, while Sergeant Jowsey took one flank and I took the other. We then went forward again with the Americans in the middle. We contacted the enemy and Lieutenant Masefield got his first shot in at a few yards ranee. All fighting is at close

quarters in the bush because you can’t see more than about 20 yards. Lieutenant Masefield would be about 15 yards on an average from me, yet I rarely saw him during the three hours fighting, and we could only tell when the Japs were working around to our side by the direction of the bullets cutting the undergrowth about us. We held our fire and spread out to advance in a kind of circular formation (depending on cover) and keeping our perimeter intact so we could not be surprised on any side. The aim in this

type of fighting is to outflank the opposition while safeguarding yourselves against ambushes. That is why grenades are used such a lot. When a man dives behind a tree you can’t get him with a rifle, but a grenade thrown past the tree will probably get him with the crossburst. We had trained ourselves to shoot only when we had something to shoot at,” Sgt. Larsen continued. “ Our silence had the Japs bluffed. They could see us creeping round their flanks and they threw everything they had at

usgrenades, rifle, and machine gun bullets everywhere. It seemed amazing that so much stuff should be flying about and no one hurt, but, of course, there was good cover from fire and view. The Japs, withdrew about 100 yards at a time and set up their machine gun on the trail each time. We fought them for three hours and drove them back nearly two. miles. It was getting nearly dark by this time, so we decided to press them no further that day and turned off the trail for the mouth of the Bariki River,

where' an American battalion had set up a perimeter defence in the swamp. Here we had security for the night. During the engagement one of. the Fijians was ..wounded in the shoulder. That was the only casualty that day. . “ That is. how the fight. for Munda began,” said Larsen, “ for the next day the Americans went out with some of our men to guide them to the enemy, but when they got to the hill we had passed over the previous night, the Japs had .dug in and it subsequently took three days to shift them. “ From then on we had patrols behind the enemy lines day and night. When I was evacuated we were running relays to the longest one every day to relieve half a patrol at a time. The casualties amongst the New Zealand personnel imposed a tremendous strain - on the remaining N.C;O.s, but I have since learned that some reinforcements arrived from Guadalcanal after I left. “This does not give a complete picture of our activities, as it was just a mild beginning. I knew all that was going on around me, but I was not an actual ‘ eye-witness ’ to every event as our patrols were everywhere at once. Some exploits will never be told as the leaders of these raids were killed.” Some of Sergeant Larsen’s most interesting observations were his comments on the Japanese soldier, based on his experiences and those of other members of his unit. “ The Japs have got guts,” he said. “ That is their greatest weapon. But they can be pushed back, as we have proved ; and now that we have started to push them back they are beginning to lose their confidence. Up till recently they had not been beaten and they thought they were supermen. They will fight to the death now because their minds are conditioned to it, but once we can get a section of them to collapse I’m sure the rot will set in quickly. Externally the Jap prisoner maintains a stoic calm, but underneath he is emotional and very sentimental —- this was evidenced in the personal diaries so many of them carried. They have not the initiative we have. They can carry out anything they are taught to the letter, but cannot change their

plans in the middle of an awkward situation. Their camouflage of prepared positions is very good. Not that they are any more clever than we are, but they do go to a great deal of trouble ; in that respect they are most energetic. “ Their sniping from tree-tops is not accurate, but it certainly produces the desired effect on morale. The Americans found that a burst from a shotgun up each tree was the best way to find. them.. “ Their main tactics are frontal attack, although they do try to work round you in little groups in the bush. They have been known at times to cut off the tips of their bullets to shorten their flight ; the idea being that if they should surround an enemy party there is less danger of hitting their own men. It is not done very much, but we did find some bullets with the noses cut off. Their ammunition is mostly -25 calibre so there is a high percentage wounded to killed. However, the Japs are constantly improving their equipment and should be in a position, to issue their front-line soldiers at least with 7-7 mm. weapons soon. This is about the same size as our own. The Japanese grenade makes a big bang, but has not got the fragmentation of ours. Sergeant Williams, of the Special Party, had one explode at his feet during a hand-to-hand fight on Guadalcanal and only received minor splinters in the posterior. The Japs used grenades even more than we do, apparently to demoralize their opponents ; they also yell out at times to scare their enemies—it is quite effective for the first encounter. line.’ Infiltration makes it a mix-up of little fights everywhere. It is really guerrilla warfare all the way ; we found that the most suitable fighting unit was about fifteen men, although every situation is different so I don’t want to be dogmatic about it.” Asked if fighting in the jungle was not an eerie, terrifying experience, Sergeant Larsen said that it was ; but it was a lot worse for those who had not trained properly in the bush. His unit had trained for many months in Fiji and had increased their experience on Guadalcanal. The New-Zealanders had lived in the bush and it was like second

nature ’ to them, as it was for the Fijians. But the Fijians had the advantage in their eyesight and hearing. The New-Zealanders were just as good bushmen, he said, and besides were more determined in walking long distances. The Fijians were good up to ten miles, but after that they wanted to lie down. The Tongans were more like the Maoris and fought outstandingly, although their bushcraft was not equal to the Fijians’. Lieutenant Masefield was responsible for training the Tongans, he said, but there were only seventeen of these troops on New Georgia at the start. “ Lieutenant Masefield was killed behind the Munda Field when it was still in Japanese hands, and it was a tremendous loss to the unit. He was acting as 2 i/c. We were terribly short of officers, so everyone had to adapt themselves to new situations as they arose. A sergeant might be ' quartering ’ one day, liaison officer next, and out on patrol the next. So diversified were

our activities that once when Major Tripp was wounded and missing, a sergeant had to act as 0.C.,” said Larsen. Discussing the training of the unit, Sergeant Larsen said that it was necessary for the New Zealand N.C.O.s to learn to speak some Fijian, and the Fijians in their turn learnt the English words of command. There were also interpreters in the unit. When the unit reached Guadalcanal they had to learn pidgin English to enable them to talk with the Solomon-Islanders. This was a strange language, he remarked. An aeroplane to the Islanders was ‘ schooner belong Jesus Christ,’ and their definition of a cross-cut saw, ' push him he go, pull him he come, all the same big brother axe.’ Sergeant Larsen said that the U.S. Army gave his unit all the co-operation they could wish for, and that although their methods of fighting were different they got on well together.