Currarong Residents Tell Of Shelling By N.Z. Cruiser

Press, Volume XCI, Issue 27603, 9 March 1955, Page 4

Currarong Residents Tell Of Shelling By N.Z. Cruiser

(N.Z. Press Association—Copyright)

STONEY. March 8. The residents of Currarong have not taken kindly to a statement by an Australian naval spokesman that only a few splinters from shells fired by the New Zealand cruiser Black Prince fell near the town last Friday.

One resident said that the New Zealand Navy should learn to shoot straighter. Another said: “How the devil they missed the targets by five miles I’ll never guess.” They said four shells from the cruiser burst near the town, which is on the edge of Jervis Bay, 22 miles from Nowra. Currarong has a population of 300. The Black Prince was firing at targets on a shore bombardment area used for gunnery practice. Mrs S. Elliott, wife of the postmaster in Currarong, said last night: “They were not just splinters that fell here. They were honest to goodness shells. They exploded with terrific bangs—every one of them. “It was about four o’clock when I heard the first one. It went off with a terrific crash, and bits of metal started falling all over the place. There were two more, and everyone came running into the post office shouting for me to call the Navy. “I called the naval station and ran out to see the last shell crash down near a boat with two fishermen in it about 100 yards off the beach, right in front of us. “It sent up a terrific shower of water —a great mushroom of it—and nearly sank the boat. “The fishermen came into the post office later and said that bits of shrapnel had whistled all around them after the shell exploded. “It’s all right now that it’s over. But somebody could have been seriously hurt. “I suppose the New Zealand Navy is all right most of the time, but they really should learn to shoot straighter.” “Fair Dinkum Shells” Mrs Dorothy Bromley, whose husband runs a garage and cafe near the main street, Pescatore avenue, was in the cafe serving a milk shake when she heard the explosions. “I dropped , everything,” she said, “I thought the end had come.” She added- “Splinters my eye. They were fair dinkum shells. They went off with tremendous crashes.

“The first explosions were about 400 yards from the nearest house, but the last one was only about 100 yards

away. It nearly blew up two men in a boat near the creek. “The two men started rowing for the shore when they saw the first shell burst. Then one hit the water near them. I thought they were gone, but when the smoke and water cleared away they were still there. “We get used to ships firing close to the town —we are only about five miles from the headland where they have the targets. “How the devil they missed the targets by five miles I will never guess. They could easily have killed someone in the village. They really ought to be a bit more careful. “They stopped soon enough when we telephoned the naval station at Nowra. But if the shells had landed in the village they could have wiped us out in one try.” Mrs Iris Denn had just stepped off her back veranda after the first sound of the shelling when splinters began to fall. “I had just walked out to see what was happening,” said Mrs Denn. “As I walked past an old fourgallon drum in the yard I heard a queer whistling noise, and a chunk of metal about six inches long slammed down into the drum. It tore the drum all to pieces and flattened it out on the ground. The splinter could have killed me.”

The “Sydney Morning Herald” say: that shell splinters fell on several o: the 120 houses in the town.

The Sydney “Daily Telegraph” says that a naval spokesman in Wellington told the paper in a radio-telephone interview last night that the incident had caused “a good deal of alarm.” The Australian Minister of the Navy (Mr J. Francis) has ordered a board of inquiry to investigate reports of the incident. He said that no-one was injured and that no damage was done to the town. A New Zealand Press Association message from Wellington says the Black Prince will return to New Zealand on March 21. She will be in Melbourne from March 10 to March 16, when she will sail for Queen Charlotte Sound, arriving there on March 21. The cruiser will prepare there for her annual inspection by the Chief of the Naval Staff (Sir Charles Madden). On March 25 the Black Prince will come to Wellington to take Sir Charles Madden aboard. Between March 25 and March 30 she will operate in the Cook Strait and Sounds areas on her inspection. The Black Prince will return to Wellington briefly on March 30 to disembark Sir Charles Madden and will sail the same day for Auckland, where she is due on April 1.