Jungle WARRIORS

Korero (AEWS), Volume 2, Issue 22, 6 November 1944, Page 22

Jungle WARRIORS

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Of recent weeks in New Zealand there have been in the streets and spots where men foregather a number of officers whose shoulderflashes bear the single word "Fiji.” One of these officers was brought to bay and after a while persuaded to reveal who and what he was. He rejected the title " Commando,” and declared himself as an officer on furlough from the Fijian Infantry Regiment. The regiment is composed of Fijians, and officered by New-Zealanders and white Fijians. Later, as they gained experience and proved themselves, several Fijians were commissioned. Two of the battalions have a sprinkling of New Zealand N.C.O.s, but for the rest the Fijians provide their own. After hard training in Fiji, itself an ideal school for jungle fighters and very similar to the type of country they would find farther north in the Pacific, one battalion left for the Solomons, where it played a notable and successful part in the campaign, not altogether completed incidentally, to eject the Japanese invader from those islands. After a short stay on Guadalcanal they were sent to a neighbouring island of Florida, and there for five long months they took up a defensive role relieved only by arduous and lengthy patrols which combed the whole length and breadth of the island. The infantry of the 3rd Division will understand their feelings. Finally it seemed their chance had come. They landed on Kolombangara and sent out patrols to contact the enemy. They found no enemy, and the total bag was two Chinese. But they did not have long to wait. Bougainville next saw them, and on Christmas Day ’43 they set out for their first patrol

outside the perimeter at Empress Augusta Bay. Quickly settling down to their work they reconnoitred the area in all directions and increased their knowledge of the enemy. Before long they set out on an ambitious patrol, of company strength this time, and after a four-and-a-half day trek through the jungle they set up camp at Ibu, nine miles from the coast on the eastern side of the island, and thirty miles from the perimeter. From here they sent out patrols which established outposts sometimes ten miles away from the main camp. Their object was simple enough find out all about the Japs and kill as many of them as they could. For this the company was strengthened with the addition of a mortar section and a machine-gun section armed with Brens, not Vickers. The camp was 1,500 ft. above sea level, and from an old native garden on the hillside they hacked out an airstrip. A "cub” airstrip it was called. One hundred and fifty yards long, it sufficed to land a small cabin monoplane which brought in specialist equipment and took out sick and wounded, of whom there were very few. Supplies were dropped by transport planes. So they lived for over seven weeks, for the first month on their own, and later reinforced with a second company, itself strengthened with mortars and machine guns. During the whole period the Japs were given no peace, and clashes and ambushes were regular occurrences. Striking out of the jungle without warning they took R the Japs by surprise again and again, inflicting casualties and leaving the enemy bewildered and apprehensive. Yet so much master of the jungle did the unit show itself, so resourceful and courageous, that during the whole period

their losses were only one man killed and one officer and one man wounded. On the other side, the Japs lost over two hundred • men. In estimating enemy casualties, only those seen killed were counted. On one occasion a patrol slipped behind a Japanese defensive position. That the last thing in the world the enemy expected was an attack from the rear was shown by the fact that the whole layout was planned to resist an attack from the sea. When close to the position the Fijians were spotted and a few shots came from the Jap lines, whereupon the Fijians poured in a volley of rifle fire, grenades, and Bren gun fire, catching the startled Japs on their way to their action stations and killing forty-seven with no loss to themselves. True to their methods, only those seen killed were counted, although there must have been even more casualties among those Japs sleeping or resting in huts which were riddled by the Brens or blasted with grenades. After seven weeks the enemy in the area was stirred up, and heavily reinforced his troops, starting a frontal assault on the outposts. So, having inflicted damage, material and moral, on the invader, and having found out all they wanted to know, the Fijians pulled out and returned to the perimeter. On their return journey the track they had used when outward bound was found to be dangerous because of the number of Japs, so, using native guides, an alternative track was made. This became uncertain, and finally they made straight for the coast. For this reason the planes carrying their supplies missed the column and the last

two days of what turned out to be a five-day march were done without food. Later, when the Japanese made a determined and largescale assault on the perimeter, the Fijian battalions were in reserve and after the assault had failed went out on patrol time and again to harass

the retreating Japs. It was during this period that the American decoration of the Silver Star was won by a Fijian private. Left behind with the transport, it was his job to recognize the battalion on its return from an extended patrol and pass the word down so that they would not be mistaken for an enemy patrol and fired on. Whilst waiting he observed a small Jap patrol hiding on the trail which the battalion would use. Gathering four of his comrades he set off into the jungle and routed the enemy, killing five Japanese and bringing back a Jap machine gun, a knee-mortar, and one prisoner. Of powerful physique, the Fijians have shown themselves both courageous and skilful in the jungle. Excellent scouts and confident masters of bush-craft, they are nearly all marksmen and have the whip-hand of the enemy. Orders are given in English and translated by N.C.O.s. However, many of the New Zealand officers have learnt something of the Bau dialect, the main language of the Fijis, and know enough to give the relatively short and simple commands that are necessary in action. As batmen the Fijians show themselves interested in everything that concerns the officers they serve, and it is they who act as language teachers. Their interest in the officers sometimes has its embarrassing moments. One officer, asked by his batman if he had a “ marama ” or sweetheart, offhandedly said that some one had taken her from him. He found later that the news was round all his platoon, who were quite concerned at his loss.

Not only have the Fijians shown themselves loyal and stalwart soldiers, they have shown also that they possess initiative and leadership of a high order. On one patrol two sections, under a Fijian sergeant found themselves cut off from the main body. Making their own way back they found their progress blocked by a

Jap-occupied village. Leaving his Brengunners covering the village, the sergeant took the remainder of his men with all the grenades they could muster and quickly and silently made his way to a flank. Then on a prearranged signal the machine guns opened up and the Japs came under a hail of grenades. Giving them no time to recover, the Fijians ended the affray by following up

with the bayonet. The sergeant then collected his party, found the trail, and came back to the perimeter without losing a man. This exploit earned . the sergeant a D.C.M. and a commission. Whatever the future may hold in store for the regiment, there can be no doubt that the Fijians will only add fresh laurels to their present well-deserved fame.