S.A.S. Men Elude Coast Defenders

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30587, 2 November 1964, Page 1

S.A.S. Men Elude Coast Defenders

(from Our Own Reporter) GREYMOUTH, November 1. The Special Air Service Squadron from Papakura Military Camp made a successful landing on the West Coast on Friday night without being detected, even though there had been a good deal of publicity about their intention to land between Greymouth and Hokitika.

The 50-odd members of the squadron landed on a beach a few miles south of Greymouth. They moved inland immediately to get as far away from the beach as possible under cover of darkness. They continued to move inland on Saturday .in both daylight and darkness, and today were in the Lake Rnmnpr area

From now on the squadron will continue with varied exercises until it reaches Burnham Camp in midNovember.

A Company of the 2nd battalion of the Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment assembled in Greymouth on Friday evening under the command of Captain J. Bateman. They comprised Territorials from the Westport, Greymouth, and Hokitika area. The company of 43 men, spread out along the beach from Greymouth to Hokitika.

The company had the help of the Search and Rescue Organisation, scouts, members of the West Coast Deerstalkers’ Association, and three boats of the Fishermen’s Association. The first definite report that the

squadron had landed came from Boy scouts under Mr C. Hall, near the Camerons area. Before that the squadron had placed three parachutes on the aerodrome site on Friday night as decoys.

It was realised then that the Invaders had moved behind the defenders, who decided upon a tactical withdrawal to the Mitchells area. It was at this time that a second sighting of S.A.S. troops was made. It was not until four o’clock on Saturday afternoon that a large party of the S.A.S. was spotted and reported back to Captain Bateman. Three who spotted the Invaders on the third occasion were Messrs J. Johnson, of Paroa, E. Sadler, of Greymouth, and E. Russ, of Gladstone.

The information they supplied was quickly acted on by members of A company, but the advent of darkness assisted the invaders in getting out of a boxed-in area. The members of A Company returned to their homes today. They bad gained very valuable training in operational conditions both day and night, sometimes being waist deep in swamp.