GALLANT NEW ZEALANDERS

Dominion, Volume 35, Issue 250, 20 July 1942, Page 5

GALLANT NEW ZEALANDERS

High Praise Given PART IN ALAMEIN BATTLE (Official War Correspondent, N.Z.E.F.) CAIRO, July 17. Dispatches reaching Cairo from world correspondents at the battlefront give the highest praise to the New Zealanders for their part in. General Auchinleck’s swift thrust in the central sector of the El' Alamein front. In the course of his story to the “Daily Express,” London, Alan Moorehead said: "The New Zealanders by common consent are among the finest fighting men in the Middle East. Their anti-tank gunners did not budge. When one gunlayer died, the man who shoved the shell into place took his job. After two years of knowing some of those New Zealand gunners, I find it an intense grief to say they are dead.” A. G. Clifford of the ‘‘Daily Mail,” wrote: “The New Zealanders fought with stupendous gallantry.” R. Legge, “Daily Telegraph,” London, in his message said: “The New Zealanders took part in one of the most heroic episodes in the history of British arms. It is a tragic episode, but glorious, and writes the names of New Zealanders as indelibly among the indomitables of this war as those who withstood the first siege of Tobruk and of Sebastopol. I refer to the group of New Zealand gunners who died at their posts in an effort to stem the initial stages of Rommel’s counterattack.” • Done Every Job Well. J. 11. Lessing, war correspondent of the South African Press Association, wrote: “The New Zealander is an unassuming soldier who has done very well every job given him in this war. He has been in half a dozen major battles and has suffered many scars, yet when things were going badly in the present campaign he immediately responded to the call for aid. It was a shock to Rommel suddenly to find himself up against a force, the bravery and skill of whose soldiers are unsurpassed in the world. They came unheralded. Immediately set to the task and lashed out in full fury at the enemy. Once again they suffered, casualties, but that has ever urged on the New Zealanders to throw in an even greater effort. They never want publicity. All they are concerned about is to do the job allotted to them, no matter how difiicult it may be or what sacrifices may be entailed. That is why the New Zealander has won the admiration of the whole wo,rid—and, not least, of their enemies.” Account of Action. The first news of the New Zealanders’ part in the battle which now rages in the central El Alamein sector was brought to Cairo in the early hours of this morning by a New Zealand dispatch rider who arrived with a story from a New Zealand radio commentator. This is his graphic story :— ‘‘The New Zealanders have been engaged iu one of their largest and most fiercely launched infantry, attacks of the war in Egypt. Moving north-west to the central sector of the El Alamein area, they fought their way to their objective against heavily armed and greatly superior enemy forces. During the day and in the afternoon our artillery went into action. The evening was comparatively quiet and by nine o’clock our infantry were in position. ... “ ‘We walked for three hours with bayonets fixed without meeting any serious opposition,’ said one New Zealand infantryman ‘A flare burst away from us on the left, then another on the right, but we lay close _to the ground unobserved. A third flare floated out above us and the enemy fire was immediately directed on the whole line of the advance.’ . “It is described as the most intense concentration of automatic and heavy weapon fire yet encountered. The Italians had their guns scientifically laid. But we went at it with machinegun, tommygun, Bren gun, and bayonet It was a full-scale infantry attack The enemy put up a sharp resistance. Nothing could stop us, and the gun posts—machinegun and anti-tank—which were used against our infantry, were vigorously attacked. Eighty-eight millimetre guns wore brought against us, and bursts of indiscriminate shelling added to the enemy defence, Three-Mile Advance. “The New Zealanders pressed on against this powerfully armed enemy. Except for platoon and company reformation as each successive point was taken, the fighting was continuous for three solid hours. By that time we had penetrated the massed .infantry and heavy weapon opposition to a depth othree miles. Eight hundred yards is considered the reasonable limit of an infantry night advance against defence force?, but these men were in a most resolute mood. They could not wait where there was yet an objective ahead. “The elements of one battalion reached a laeger of German tanks. The nearest was put out of action, by, firing a tommygun down the slits in it aim plastering it with hand grenades. lhe tanks sculled around and swept away from the path of tlie New Zealanders in their surprise. “Generally, the whole line of advance was on its objective by morning. The swiftness and vigour of the attack had left behind many pockets of enemy resistance, which held out stubbornly during the day. They were the subject of heavy attack in the consequent redisposition of the forces. “As infantry, the New Zealanders achieved their full objective in what must count as one of New Zealand’s greatest and most courageous engagements. That this great infantry advance could not be consolidated is just another example of the uncertainty of desert warfare. But their victory remains, and a line of prisoners testifies to it.” ___________