GAMBIA RETURNS TO N.Z.

Press, Volume LXXXI, Issue 24711, 31 October 1945, Page 6

GAMBIA RETURNS TO N.Z.

Service With British Pacific Fleet BOMBARDMENT OF JAPAN (P.A.) AUCKLAND, October 30. After an absence of more than eight months the New Zealand cruiser Gambia returned to Auckland to-day. In the meantime she has served with distinction as a unit of the fourth cruiser squadron of the British Pacific Fleet, sharing only with "the flagship, the King George V, the honour of the longest service. When the Gambia left Auckland she was under the command of Captain N. J. W. William-Powlett, D.S.C., R.N., who was relieved at Leyte late in April by Captain Ralph Edwards, C.8.E., R.N., whose previous appointment had been as chief of staff to the Com-mander-in-Chief, Eastern Fleet, Admiral Sir James Somerville. The cruiser joined the fourth cruiser squadron at Sydney on February 17, and until early in June, when she returned to Sydney for a short refit and for replenishment, she took part in the Okinawa campaign as a unit of the British task force which attacked airfields and other impprtant targets, in *the Sakashima Islands, and twice in northern Formosa. In mid-July the Gambia, still with the British task force, returned to northern waters. She was one of about 130 American and British warships which proceeded to attack the main Japanese islands of Kyushu, Honshu, Shikoku, and Hokkaido.

"The main object of these operations," Captain Edwards said, "was to force the enemy air force to fight, and so reduce the effective strength with which they would be able to meet an invasion. Subsidiary objectives were the destruction of the remainder of the Imperial Japanese navy, the sinking of any merchant shipping, the disruption of communications, and the wrecking of important industrial plants. That these raids were exceedingly successful we now know. The Imperial Japanese navy practically ceased to exist, shipping was brought to a standstill, and industry seriously disrupted.

Cruising Off Japan "For three or four weeks the combined fleets ranged up and down the coast of Japan, while carriers sent in raid after raid of great strength deep into the Empire, and" battleships and cruisers proceeded close inshore during the dark hours and bombarded vital industrial targets. On August 7 came news of the dropping of the first atomic bomb. However, it made no immediate difference to the fleet's offensive, and on August 9 the Newfoundland.and the Gambia, under the command™f RearAdmiral E. P. Brind, were detached from the main British task force and joined an American bombarding force, which was under orders td carry out a daylight bombardment of industrial targets in the town of Kamaishi. The American force consisted of three modern battleships and four new cruisers. "The run in was uneventful", and the bombardment began about 1 p.m., and continued for two hours. The results were reported as being most successful, and photographs taken after the surrender show the Gambia's target trf be almost entirely destroyed. About 3 p.m. the retirement was started, and the whole target area was covered by a great thick cloud of smoke. "Just before 4 p.m. an air attack developed, and fire was opened. One aircraft appeared to be diving straight for the Gambia in true suicide manner. However, the great Are power of the combined squadrons put him off his aim, and after trying further suicide tactics against the Newfoundland and the destroyer Tenacious, he crashed into the sea a mile or two away on our quarter. Air activity continued until 5 when all was quiet again. So ended the last bombarding operation against the Japanese homeland in the war. and as it happened the Gambia fired the last shots of that action. Afr Attacks "The war ended a few days later, but the last had still not been seen of the Japanese kamikazes, On the morning of August 15, the day when Mr Churchill broadcast the end of hostilities, there was a burst of cannon fire overhead, and out of the clouds came a suicide plane, which was apparently diving for the Gambia or the ship ahead. "However," Captain Edwards said, "a pursuing Seafire was close on his tail, and he was shot into flames from 1000 or so feet over the ship. His bomb fell harmlessly, but quite close enough, to port, while the aircraft crashed to starboard, bits of it falling on board. The pilot, in his parachute, very nearly pitched on our bow. For some hours air activity continued at a high pitch, and one or two rather menacing situations developed. The fighters, however, were doing their job quite admirably, and shot down some eight or nine aircraft, and no further close attack developed on the Fleet. "The next 10 days were spent cruising 200 miles to the eastward of Tokyo Bay, dodging typhoons and waiting impatiently for the surrender arrangements to be completed. On August 27 the Fleet moved in, and anchored without incident in the approaches to Tokyo Bay, Of all the ships which had set out from Australia in February, only the King George V-and the Gambia went to Tokyo. Evacuation of Prisoners "Since then," Captain Edwards said, "our chief duties have been to aid the evacuation of our prisoners of war. For a week the Gambia was detached to the small port of Wakayama, at the eastern entrance to the Inland Sea, to* assist with'the evacuation of prisoners from the Kobe area. Men from many parts of the Empire came through the port. Thin and emaciated, and often sick, though they were, their spirits were undaunted. "During the last two days of our stay in that anchorage a typhoon of great intensity passed close by to the northward, and gave cause for great anxiety. The wind rose to hurricane force shortly after dark, and the swell and sea were soon terrific. The roar of the wind made all speech superfluous, and the whole surface of the sea was covered up to a height of 60ft with driving spume. It appeared that the centre of the typhoon would go right over the anchorage, and great was the relief when it was reported that the barometer was no longer falling, and shortly afterward that it was rising. The centre of the storm was passing to the northward. Although the Gambia received no damage, the typhoon drove several small ships ashore in the inner anchorage, and wrought havoc and devastation over a very wide area." From Wakayama the Gambia returned to Tokyo, and from there came back to Auckland by way of Manus, in the Admiralty Islands, and Sydney. A boiler defect which developed on the way to Auckland delayed her entry into harbour. WAEM WELCOME BIG CROWD ON WHARF (P.A.) AUCKLAND, Oct 30. Seldom has a New Zealand warship received a warmer welcome for her homecoming than that which was given to the cruiser Gambia to-day when she returned from more than eight months' service with the British Pacific Fleet, the last part of it as New Zealand's naval representative with the Allied forces in Japan. The crowd of next-of-kin and other relatives at the Devonport naval base was one of the largest ever seen there, and the commander of the Gambia, Captain Ralph Edwards, delighted their hearts by allowing them all on board: immediately his ship had been secured to. the Calliope wharf, this being a step which is rarely taken, although their part in the Gambia's welcome was most important to the officers and ship's company. Relatives were not the only ones who took notice of the cruiser's return. As she came up, the harbour through a driving rain squall, trains at the Auckland railway station roared out a welcome on their whistles, and some of the ships in port joined in. The ship was officially welcomed by the Chief of the Naval Staff, Commo-