SWAM WITH "FINS"

Auckland Star, Volume LXXVI, Issue 219, 15 September 1945, Page 7

SWAM WITH "FINS"

DEMOLITION TEAMS

FIRST IN JAP-HELD ISLANDS O.C. SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 3. From a naval demolition base at Maui, in Hawaii, has come a story of how "welcome" signs came to appear on Japanese islands. When the Marines stormed ashore on Okinawa last April they found a sign saying: "Welcome to Tokyo— Buy War Bonds." At Guam, they found one saying, "Welcome Marines, b3' U.D.T.'s."

'ibis is the "now it can be told story" auout the wavy s "underwater demolition teams" whicn swam asnore on enemy occupieu isianus anu uiasiea opeu a paui tnrougu Japanese uetences iur me mam invasion torces, some oi wnicn xoiioweu uays later. me teams swam asnore in swimming trunKs, carrying ioaas of explosives on thenbacks. They wore watermasks on tneir faces and rubber fins on thenfeet. They were the men of the "wave before the first wave."

They operated,from the Marshalls to .Borneo. They were not ready for Tarawa and hail they been, American casualties nngiit have been jugnter. in tne invasion ot Guam, m tne summer ot iuti, the u.jj.t.'s were asnore six aays beiore the main ooay went asnore. iney mew beach ooscacies oacK into tne enemy's laps, iney they stuck up a sign welcoming the marines asnore.

Despite their dangerous work, the U.D.T.'s suffered only siight casualties and only three were taken prisoner. Yap was not invaded although the J.D.T. bo} r s had prepared it for invasion before a lastminute switch in plans. The demolition men back at the Maui base say they were perfectly safe in the water. Their best trick was catching Jap bullets which plopped into the water and then floated slowly down to the levels where the U.D.T.'s were swimming.

Off Okinawa there is a small rock which bears the scars of Jap fiveinch shells. The U.D.T.'s had been assigned to get, ashore there and instal a blinker light to give a "fix" to approaching American convoys. The U.D.T.'s heard about the sign erected on Guam and decided to put a "Welcome to Tokyo" sign on the Okinawa rock. They became so busy fixing the sign that they forgot about the Japs until a shore battery opened up. They hid in crevices in the huge rock for several hours, then came out and finished the sign and the blinker and swam away to their ship.

The officers and men of the U.D.T.'s always worked without difference in rank. As one husky enlisted man put it, "there's no collar insignia on a pair of swimming trunks."

After they blew up beach obstacles and .scouted the landing spots, the U.D.T.'s frequently stuck around and acted as guides' for the invasion forces, leading tanks and amphibious vehicles over reefs. The U.D.T.'s travelled on special destroyers. When they worked at night they wore aluminous-painted hoods to blend with the shimmer of moonlight on the water. The men selected for service in the U.D.T.'s were all husky and able to swim a mile in 40 minutes, aided by the flippers on tlieir feet.