TANKS IN ACTION

Auckland Star, Volume LXXV, Issue 62, 14 March 1944, Page 6

TANKS IN ACTION

N.Z. MEN ON NISSAN

OVER SIXTY JAPS. KILLED (N.Z.E.F. Official News Service) SOUTH PACIFIC BASE, Mar. 13. For the first time in its history a tank squadron of the Third New Zealand Division went into action on Nissan Island, supporting infantry units which destroyed the last remaining nest of Japs, on the atoll.

This action began unexpectedly and with startling suddenness, as so often happens in the jungle, where every man must be constantly alert. When night fell over 60 Japs, lay dead in a grove of pandanus trees and along the shore, mowed down by our grenades, machine-guns and rifle fire. Individual acts of bravery marked the whole action.

Weil-tested in their action on Vella Lavella, our men moved to the attack with courage and precision, outwitting trie Jap. by their superior skill and jungle tactics. As one officer remarked to me after the action: "The hard lessons we learned on Vella Lavella and Treasury Island were Invaluable. We now know how to handle the Jap. There was not the slightest signs of fear among the men. My difficulty was to hold them back for the final assault. Every man was determined to be in the show." Area Believed Clear The action began on the outskirts of the tiny native village of Tanakeran, about 150 yards from the low coral cliffs which border the south-west coast of Nissan. All round the area were dense thickets and large trees where a man may remain concealed five yards away. This area, like all others on the island, had been patrolled and was thought to be clear.

Senior officers of the Division, including Brigadier Potter, passed through it the previous day and on the morning of the action were un-

aware that any Japs, were in the neighbourhood. Until the action actually began, jeeps bumoed through the area over the rough track which had been gouged out of the jungle by engineers. But that is one'of the

traps of jungle warfare. No one is ever certain where the enemy may be lurking. Between 11.30 a.m. and

noon. Captain J. F. B. Stronach, of Christchurch, officer commanding a Bren carrier platoon, was making a reconnaissance of the area with the object of establishing headquarters there. As it was lunch time he

rested his men and decided to go for a swim. A few minutes later one of his men walked across towards

the edge of the cliff. Suddenly a rifle cracked In the green gloom. A Jap. had fired on him from behind a tree.

Two sergeants immediately collected 15 men to search the area thinking that one or two Jap. stragglers had escaped our patrols. They were met by withering bursts of rifle and machine-gun fire, and two of their men fell wounded. The firing brought Captain Stronach to tne scene at the double. Japs, in Considerable Force

These were no stragglers. He realised that the Japs, were there in considerable numbers. They were either hidden in caves or up in the trees, and thus escaped our patrols. In all he had 28 men assembled quickly from various units. With this small force he formed a perimeter, boxing the Japs, in along the coast, with the object of holding them there until reinforcements arrived.

At first an attempt was made to rescue Corporal Roy Stannard, of Waerenga, of the carrier platoon, who lay, wounded in the field of fire. Although Captain Stronach and some of his men crawled to within 10 feet of him, they could not effect a rescue as the Japanese riddled the area with rifle and mortar fire. Corporal Stannard had a miraculous escape. Falling leaves and branches covered him and he was afterwards rescued bv a tank.

. Lieutenant E. H. Ryan, of Hawera, who was also making a reconnaissance of the area with a machine-gun company, arrived and went into action on the right flank, spraying the area from knee height to the tops of the trees.

Because or the noise, it was impossible to pick up snipers hidden in the branches.

So severe was the Japanese mortar fire, that Lieutenant Ryan's machinegunners were pinned in along the toast, and the signal was sent for reinfoi-cements. Soon afterwards he was wounded.

Arrival of Tanks At 2 o'clock in the afternoon Major R. J. Rutherford, of New Plymouth, got his first tanks into action. Visibility was limited, and great spreading roots of trees hampered tank movements. But the trees were plastered with shrapnel from the tank's howitzers.

Lieutenant T. K. Evans, of Hawera, commanded one tank and Sergeant R. H. H. Beetham, of Masterton, another. Sergeant Beetham's tank located Corporal Stannard and went in under a hail of bullets to rescue him. Although the Japanese were only 15 to 20 yards away, our men could not locate them accurately; all they aimed for was space.

Jap snipers picked off a tiny periscope on one tank and fired at an observation aperture no larger than a bullet. Their accuracy was disturbing, as was evidenced by bullet marks on the heavy metal. Two

more tanks were now brought into

action, one commanded by Lieutenant D. Holden, of Onga Onga, and the other by Corporal H. E. Johns, of New Plymouth, the Taranaki footballer. Once more the area was plastered with shrapnel, bringing down showers of leaves and shattered branches. As the tanks were noAv too close for the safety of our men, they were withdrawn. Meanwhile Lieutenant Stronach was still holding the perimeter, his men firing into the area where the

Japs were pinned. Rough lumps of harsh coral rock and the massive boles of trees gave corer to both the attackers and attacked. It was difficult country.

Preparations for Final Assault

By 3.30 p.hi. Major A. B. Bullen, of Auckland, officer commanding D Company, arrived with two platoons, and the infantry, the real heroes of jungle fighting, prepared for the final assault. Even now the strength of the enemy was not known, although the quantity of lead coining from the trees indicated considerable strength, and also that the Japanese were plentifully supplied with large quantities of rifle, machine-gun and mortar ammunition.

Major Bullen took full command of the operation, moving his 14th platoon to the right fiank and placing his 15th platoon on the left. By now the Japs were well trapped, and as our men moved forward the action developed into a perfect exhibition of grenade throwing. All those laborious hours of training of learning how to throw grenades among trees, into foxholes, and firing from cover, etc., were proving their necessity, and efficiency. Remembering Vella Lavella and Treasury Islands, the men moved forward slowly, but wisely.

Major Bullen was shouting his orders and making his voice heard above the wicked crack of rifles, the stutter of machine-guns and the explosion of mortars. And every one of those orders was obeyed implicitly as his men closed in on the Japs, now hemmed into a small area with a cliff behind them. Every shouted order brought a storm of lead in Major Bullen's direction as the Japs sought to find him. Jap grenades came showering from undergrowth. Coolness Of The Troops Night was coming on. The final clearing up had to be completed before darkness. Major Bullen had the whole situation under control and was elated by the conduct and coolness of his men. Word reached him that eight Japs had been killed while trying to escape along the rugged coast. Corporal L. G. Ratcliffe, of Kerepeehi, in charge of a picket, accounted for six with a tommy-gun and two others were dispatched as they rounded some rocks.

Meanwhile the net closed in. With only about a quarter of an hour of daylight left, Major Bullen gave orders for the final assault to his impatient men. First came a shower of grenades, every man hurling them vigorously and with telling effect. Then the final dash. The men were firing as they stumbled and ran over the jagged coral, avoiding splaying roots of pandanus. Just before that final dash Captain P. R. W. Adams, of Blenheim, fell dead, shot by a sniper.

Victory was complete and our losses were remarkably light, thanks to skilful handling of the whole situation by Major Bullen, and before his arrival by Lieutenant Stronach. They counted the dead— 51 of them lying in distorted groups among the rocks and tree roots. One wounded Jap, as our men approached him, placed a hand grenade on his stomach and committed suicide. Only a few of the enemy escaped, and they were accounted for next day.

S9 night fell swiftly with the setting sun. Pickets were posted to stare into the impenetrable mass of foliage, alert and listening for sounds <3ther than those which haunt the jungle—the harsh, chirping of the cicadas, the disturbing screech of night birds and jungle fowls, and the dry rustle of large lizards among the leaves. All those sounds play havoc with the imagination. But nothing came that night. Morning found them tired, grimy and bearded, too tired almost to join the bands of souvenir hunters who soon began to throng the area.