N.Z. TANK CREW IN KOREA

Press, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 27037, 12 May 1953, Page 3

N.Z. TANK CREW IN KOREA

K Force Men To Man Centurion (N.Z. Arms/ Information Service) KOREA, May 7. After a lapse of several months a Centurion tank fully-manned by New Zealanders should be in action again on the Korean battlefront within a fortnight or so. Two young black-bereted New Zealanders of the Royal New Zealand Armoured Corps who marched into the headquarters of the famed Ist Royal Tank Regiment yesterday morning now bring the total of regular Army»men from the Dominion serving with British tanks in Korea to eight. This will be only for a short while, however, as two other New Zealanders now serving with the tank regiment are due to return home shortly. The New Zealanders were originally attached to different tanks in the Bth Hussars and later the sth Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards. Later, for a period, one tank was manned entirely by New Zealanders. Transfers and changes, however, separated the men again. The two latest arrivals, Corporal L. J. Pye (Auckland) and Corporal V. R. Thompson (Christchurch), were told yesterday that the all-New Zealand tank crew was being reformed and that they would have their longawaited chance to man a Centurion. Both men have been attached to 161 Battery of the 16th New "Zealand Field Regiment for the last two months, awaiting postings to the tanks.