WAR BY AIR

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIV, Issue 269, 12 November 1943, Page 3

WAR BY AIR

WAY TO FIGHT JAPS. New British Equipment On Exhibition N.Z.P.A. Special Correspondent Rec. 11 a.m. LONDON, Nov. 11. The importance of the air war in | all its forms in the war against the j Japanese was emphasised by Major- i General P. A. M. Browning when' discussing the work of airborne divisions. . "We do not want a prolonged war in the Far East, with our inen groan- ; ing through the jungle against the . Japanese, mile after mile, all the way to Tokyo," he said. "That is not the way to fight the Japs." He went on to say that the question of supply from the air would be formidable, and spoke of parachutists who were training in India, < including Indian troops and Gurkhas. Jjate Start But Good Recovery General Browning was speaking at an exhibition at the Ministry of Supply of the equipment of an airborne division. He admitted that the British Army had been late in the day in starting airborne units. and even after the change in policy from defensive to offensive war, the rate of progress had necessarily been slow because the requests of the airborne divisions for equipment came on top of the already heavy demands of the Army, but now the new equipment was "pretty high class stuff-" It had to be borne in mind, however, that those directing the airborne troops had to think at least four or five years ahead when designing and ordering new equipment. He said the airborne troops' part in the invasion of Sicily was a "complete success." General Browning was introduced i to those present by Mr. Duncan Sandys, joint Parliamentary-Secre-tary of the Ministry of Supply, who tald me: "I regard myself as half a New Zealander as my mother was a New Zealander." Mr. Sandys said that neither thought nor effort had been spared in equipping the airborne forces. Field-type Howitzer The exhibition included "jeeps," 75 m.m. howitzers, three-inch and two-inch mortars, Bren guns, antitank rifles, Sten guns, Sten gun bayonets, radio sets, wireless telegraphy, a power unit, a folding motor cycle, a scaling ladder and dehydrated rations. The "jeep" is a fiye hundredweight four-wheeler which not only carries troops but also tows a howitzer. General Browning remarked that if one "jeep" was not sufficient two lor three could be strung on to the wing of the plane. The howitzer used by the airborne troops is a field type, modified to meet their requirements. It measures 145 in. from the muzzle to the tip, and it can fire a 1431b high explosive shell at a range of over 5000 yards. The rate of fire is two to six rounds a minute. The total weight of the gun is 14871b5. It is broken up into six packs, weighing about 2501b each for purpose of transport. It can be quickly reassembled after being dropped by parachute.