Troops May Go To Thailand

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31139, 16 August 1966, Page 1

Troops May Go To Thailand

(Parliamentary Reporter) WELLINGTON, August 15. New Zealand paratroopers and Canberra bombers in Malaysia and Singapore may move to Thailand now that a peace treaty has been signed between Malaysia and Indonesia. The Government is expected to announce shortly that it will reduce its Malaysian commitment to that before confrontation began—the infantry battalion at Terandak camp, Malaysia, the frigate on the Far East station, and the four Bristol freighters. It has already said it will withdraw the battalion to its base from Borneo, and will bring home the crews of the Royal Navy mine-sweepers now on anti-infiltration duties. The deployment of the six Canberra bombers of 14 squadron, now in Singapore.

and the 40 paratroopers of the Ist Ranger Squadron, S.A.S., now in Borneo, is still to be decided. Military officers in Wellington are believed to be anxious that both units—sent to the area specifically to combat confrontation—should stay in South-east Asia. The Air Force and the Army have both found many benefits from having their men and equipment on the spot. They have found that their units have been able to keep up a fine edge of combat readiness, impossible on training grounds at home. Troops Acclimatised The troops and airmen are familiar with the area, and most important of all they are acclimatised. Military planners have found that no matter how fit and highly-trained their men are in New Zealand, they need several weeks to become acclimatised to the strengthsapping South-east Asian heat. Pilots in Canberra bombers at Singapore are reported to

have fainted from heat exhaustion in their cockpits while they waited on the tarmac to take off and activate their aircrafts’ cooling systems. Boost To Recruiting Another consideration is that overseas service boosts recruiting, a perennial problem with the Army, if not the Air Force. The Government is believed to be under pressure from America and Australian sources to maintain at least its present military contribution to South-east Asia. The cost of maintaining the troops and jets in South-east Asia is relatively small. The cost of all New Zealand’s forces in the area was £l.B million in 1965-66, only 4.5 per cent of the £40.8 million defence vote. One possibility which has been suggested is that the rangers and the Canberras could go to Vietnam, but this is unlikely, for military as well as political reasons.

The loss of six Bs7s—the United States version of the Canberra—from a Viet Cong

sabotage raid would be a minor loss to the Americans, but an equivalent on New Zealand forces would wipe out our entire air contribution. The casualty rate among paratroopers could ’be expected to be much greater than that among gunners in South Vietnam. The Government could see Thailand as a logical postconfrontation stop. Communist Insurgency The rangers and jets could make a valuable contribution to meeting the rising communist insurgency in Northeast Thailand. The level of warfare would be about that in Malaysia during confrontation—enough to demand a positive military effort, but not enough to cause serious casualties.