ARMY SERVICE

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIII, Issue 254, 27 October 1942, Page 5

ARMY SERVICE

youths of eighteen POLICY IN AUSTRALIA

! ( 0.C.) SYDNEY, October 21. of'the°Pr n ei a^mp^ gn in a section me > ress against youths of is b-'ing sent to battle stations the Army Minister, Mr S ' bo'sent l to hat SUC t h youths are not ?o ci%- .u ,°P era tional areas without six months training. Naturally it is the parents of the youths who havp been concerned about "t The youth hemsehes, like youth, are keen to heie everything is happening SnreS l 'f,^, b h C f k to andd£ hk v I f °'l hIS 16th birthcove,e,l « i gG havin S been discoveied. Burnham said: ''If you leave it to the boys themselves, there isn't one 18-year-o d soldier who wouldn't be at a battle fs a ,n?d n 'on here PlCnty of "The first seven weeks in Darwin were slow. Then came the Japs Gosh It was a great break after the Ximpii' l rec:kon there were ahout 120 of them, wave after wave ot planes. There we were with a grandstand view from the cliffs It seemed no time till it was all over WPre arguing about whether our W irrawavs or our ack-ack got the Japs' planes. 6 rhere was plenty of excitement I , i ,' !'7 lng t0 shoot down the Japs. vVatching our shipping being bombed was tough, but the way the coivettes and warships went into action and threw their shells into the sky was marvellous. I'll never iorp,et the Swan. I couldn't hear her guns, but the way she raced about the continuous spcuts of smoke and lame made you feel good to be on ner side, even if we were getting the worst of it. In the first raid I was on rnv toes with nervous excitement, but so was ever> one else. After that we were glad to welcome the Japs, particularly as we were improving our equipment and technique with each raid. On the Saturday I left, 1 1 planes came over. Only two got away; ack-ack got the rest."