UNDER AIR ATTACK

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 4, 30 September 1943, Page 5

UNDER AIR ATTACK

New Zealanders’ First Taste Of Combat

(Official War Correspondent. N.Z.E.F.) GUADALCANAL. Japanese bomber aeroplanes- gave the New Zealand troops in the Pacific their first taste of combat, very soon alter the Division’s arrival in the forward aiea. In the light of a full moon, odd emissaries from Tojo's air force held a reception for the new arrivals on several nights in the first 10 days, and though the New Zealanders suffered no damage or casualties, the boom ol the few ooorlydirectcd bombs and the roar of anti-air-craft guns sent the men in haste Io their foxholes. . . If does not pay Io be curious in an air raid; ilnti-aircraft guns have a nasty habit of showering shrapnel over a wide area, as a few of the New Zeamitders craning their necks in the air learnt earlv in the piece. The whine and "plonk” of bits of shrapnel are a sobering influence on the most adventurous souls. .. , The cooks at one camp found a sizeable chunk of shell outside their open fireplace one morning. One man stopped a crack on the shoulder on his first night ashore. The jolt was the worst part, of it. As a gentle introduction to realistic war, the noises of Tojo’s visits were warmly appreciated. As a temporary disturber of sleep, they had some .slight nuisance value. As a demonstration ot Japanese formidability, they were an unqualified failure.