BEACH LANDING REPELLED

Press, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23718, 17 August 1942, Page 4

BEACH LANDING REPELLED

ARMY EXERCISE IN NORTH ISLAND

BOMBERS AND FIGHTERS ; TAKE PART (P.S.S.) : WELLINGTON. August 16. . Bombers and fighter aeroplanes, heavy • and : light - / artillery; antitank guns, mortars, Molotov cocktails; and other arms of assault and defence down to rifles and bayonets were used in a demonstration on a North bland beach, of. the defence of a beach, and a beach area against a landing from; the sea. It had a particular-signifi-cance in view of, the fact that at the’ time It was being carried out United: Stated and Australian forces . were fen- - gaged in an imensely greater scale in a landing attack in tbe'Soldmon Islands. ■■■ ,-

This exercise, it is stated, must rank in the forefront of .realism as far as military in New Zealand are concerned. It was given for the New Zealand Staff College, and a large number of other officers also attended.

The primary object was to demonstrate various actions which might be expected during ah attack on and defence of ar beach. As a measure of safety, a timed programme was strictly adhered to. This tallowed the military lessons-to stand out and gave the expert gallery time, for detailed observation. 1 ■ ; The assault on the 1 beach began in darkness, when three parachute fiares were released by a patrolling bomber and illuminated the beach and water with pink and golden light. Simultaneously big guns came on to their targets and pitched dozens of high-explosive percussion fuse shells at the imaginary landing barges and other invasion craft. Confusion of Splashes The small waves rolling up on to the beach were swept into a confusion of fountains anct ricochet splashes by thousands of rounds of ball ammunition from rifles and machine-guns. Tracer bullets made tracks of light in the darkness, Very lights rose and fell apd great winks of brightness flashed hagk from the breaches of the field pieces. The peaceful beach air was lifted and torn and compressed by the roar of the big guns, the rapid tat-a-tat of machine-gun fire and the rush of shells and bullets.

“Cease fire” then came for this part of the exercise. The second phase opened with a dive-bombing attack on the inner defences and a riposte by supporting fighters. Black against the grey morning sky, th& aircraft swooped down on a road, levelled out. and passed like bullets, coming down to 50 feet, even lower, lifting up over obstructions,. hedge-hopping, and screaming over trees. Fast in their wake were the fighters, startlingly hurtling m their headlong dives and marvellously responsive in their upward thrust back into the sky.

They disappeared. Then up from the beach, yelling and screaming like madmen, came the surviving attackers. Three light armoured vehicles raced forward, tried to win through the first line of defences, were thwarted, nosed for other openings, and rocked and pitched like destroyers in a heavy sea as they sped and slewed over rough ground. Under fire from anti-tank guns, mortars, and rifles, the L.A.F.V. troop leader signalled that he had had enough and found shelter out of view of the defenders. Cocktails For Tanks

Enemy engineers raced through gelignite and coal dust explosions simulating the defenders’ barrage, and under smokescreen cover, with supporting fire, blew a tuple through the first line of defences, Two armoured vehicles plunged through the gap, tore across paddocks and through scrub and were thwarted by other defences. They escaped, found , the road, and were attacked with Molotov cocktails. The crews scrambled out to be easy prey for rifle fire. A flank attack was then launched on the platoon supporting the tanks. The enemy faltered and the defenders counter-attacked with a wild burst by infantry with fixed bayonets. The enemy was routed.

The exercise gave every officer and man experience in working in conditions as close as possible to actual warfare. They received experience in operating under the supporting fire of field artillery, anti-tank guns, mortars, machine-guns, and of being attacked by aircraft really on the job.