CAPTURE OF SAMOA

Evening Post, Volume CXX, Issue 52, 29 August 1935, Page 17

CAPTURE OF SAMOA

HISTORIC EXPEDITION

21ST ANNIVERSARY

Today is the twenty-first anniversary i of one of the earliest events in connection •. with New Zealand's participa; tion'in the Great War. It was on August 29. 1914, that the advance party of the New Zealand Expeditionary' Force, now known as the Samoan Ex pedittonary Force, the first troops to leave New Zealand zn the war, took possession of the German islands of r Western Samoa. ' A lew dajs after the declaration ot war,-a call was made for men for a force which was required for urgent service abroad. No indication, was given' as 'to its destination nor the nature of its-job. There was a ready response,-and within the remarkably short space of a week this expedition about 1400 strong and consisting ot infantry, artillery, field engineers, railj way engineers, medical and army ser 8 mco"corps, signallers, etc, was ready •for sea. A battalion of infantry was supplied by the 3rd Auckland Regiment, while the lailway engineer"were drawn from various parts of New Zealand, but the majority of the men comprising the force were recruited from Wellington. They represented the pick of Wellington's youth of thoso days, drawn from almost every trade and profession, while every branch of sporE—Rugby, cricket, swimming, boxing, and'athletics —supplied prominent i exponents. t Having embarked on the troopships Moeraki and'Monowai, the expedition left Wellington at daybreak on August , 15, 1914, and was joined by a naval' escort off "the east coast of New Zealand, the destination being still a close secret and the subject of much speculation and v wild rumour among the troops. A* call was made at Noumea, " Frencji Caledonia, on August' 20, and „ ' at Suva on August 26. NO RESISTANCE. Tne ultimate destination was made known early on the mormng'of August 29, when the two troopships, with their 1 escorts of si:c cruisers, consisting of '' the Philomel, Pyramus, Psyche, Austrar Jia,'Melbourne,'and the French cruiser Montcalm, drew up off \kpia and prepared foe a landing. Much to the surprise of the troops there was no resistance, and the landing and occupation of the territory was effected without untoward incident, and the expedition ■> settled down to garrison duty. Fear > of attack by the German cruiser squadron under Admiral Yon Spec which " was abroad in the Pacific made extreme vigilance necessary, and indeed the ' cruisers Scharnhosrt and Gneisenau did arrive ofE Apia one "morning in September, departing again, however, without making an attack. This meni ace was removed by tbe eventual destruction of Admiral Yon Spee'Si squadron by the British force under Admiral > Sturdee at Falkland Islands, f The Samoan Force remained on the islands for eight months, being then evacuated to New Zealand, the members joining reinforcements for other theatres of.the war. The comradeship developed in Samoa 1 remains to this day, and., every year the surviving members of this body foregather in Wellington on the nea , est Saturday to the date of the landing to celebrate the occasion and' to | renew friendships. This year's func»ion is being held in the Dominion Farmers' Institute next Saturday evening, and it is expected^that 21st anniversary will be the occasion of-an even larger attendance than usual