EARLIER RAID

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 121, 17 February 1944, Page 5

EARLIER RAID

Nissan Visited By Commandos SHARP CLASHES (Official War Correspondent, N.Z.E.F.) NEW ZEALAND H.Q. IN PACIFIC, February L A daring commando raid of combined New Zealand and American troops shook the little island of Nissan from its customary quietude on the last day of January, when for 24 hours Dominion assault 'troops and United States and Navy personnel thrust farther north than • any Allied ground forces in this area had yet penetrated, scouted the island for enemy gun positions, barge stagings and installations, destroyed an oil dump, crippled two barges, fought off a determined bombing and strafing attack, and retired with only two per cent, casualties. In the short time at their disposal the patrols were not able to penetrate to all points of the thickly wooded atoll, but there were a few sharp skirmishes in which the commandos lived up to the slogan for the day, which was: “If you find trouble, return it with interest.” Had the enemy known our relative isolation from midnight on January 30, till the midnight following, they might well have been able to deal a blow that would have hung our fate in a precarious balance. The ships that took up to Nissan steamed back to oiir base after casting us off in landing craft in the heavy open sea some distance outside the atoll’s coralbordered narrow entrance. We hit -the shore of the lagoon at half-past midnight and encountered no opposition. The raiding parties dispersed at dawn, searching for barges, dumps, and enemy headquarters. A small party in a-land-ing craft found two camouflaged barges under a coral cliff, but came under a.hail of enemy fire from.hidden land positions. A violent interchange of fire caused casualties on both sides and the barge withdrew. The enem- then heavily plastered it with mortar bombs. Several landing craft later sent to attack from the sea. moving in a semi-circle of converging automatic fire that effectively riddled the enemy barges and kept the Japanese at bay. When the attack was at its height six Zeros, called by the besieged Japanese from Rabaul or New Ireland, dived savagely from the clouds and bombed and strafed us heavily. Th& bombing was inaccurate and. caused only minor damage on the craft. The strafing miraculously inflicted only minor casualties. Because we had no air Tovej wexwere compelled to scatter,. but we had put the enemy barges out of action and returned the enemy’s fire with all the small arms at our disposal. Long Hours of Waiting.

When at dusk our task was completed we spent till midnight in the lauding craft round lagoon’s shores waiting for the rendezvous. Those hours of waiting were the longest in our experience. Twice enemy, snooper plan eg droned over Nissan without spotting us, but in the end anticipation proved worse than realization. We felt a canny way to the open sea with a sense of indescribable relief. Even the roughness of the Pacific swell that lunged the frail craft against the big ships’ hulls failed to dampen our Spirits as we scrambled up the nets. Thanks to the completeness of our surprise and to the daringly unexpected character of such a foray deep within the enemy perimeter the raid was attended by the fullest possible success. Commanding-New Zealand assault troops in the Nissan raid was LieutenantColonel F. C. Cornwall, a former farmer from the Warkwcrth district, north of Auckland, whose responsibility was the organization of the demolition parties when the enemy installations were encountered. Colonel Cornwall’s men came from a battalion of mixed North and South Island residents, all but half a dozen of whom were seeing their first action.

With Colonel Cornwall was associated an American naval officer, Commander J. Macdonald Smith, whose enthusiasm and daring during the skirmishes had a lot to do with the success of the attack on the two enemy barges. Though slightly wounded in the arm, Commander. Smith led the first boat to the attack and directed its fire into the enemy positions. Friendly Natives.

Taking with them to Nissan a collection of coloured fabrics, tobacco, and food, the New Zealanders quickly roused the friendship of the big native population when they landed on the raid. Since the enforced stoppage of administrative and missionary work following the Japanese occupation two years ago the natives have been sadly neglected. Though the Japanese were shrewd enough not to molest the natives personally. they aroused bitterness by killing off the large pig population of the island on which the natives depend largely for food., and by robbing the vegetable and fruit gardens caused a spread of disease among the natives beyond normal incidence. A strange story of superstitious susceptibility was told to an administrative officer who accompanied the raiders. Bad times had encouraged the natives to give wav to superstitious customs, one of which was the building of stone-wall-ed clearings near the coast to attract foodladen ehips to the island.