AWKWARD MOMENTS

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVIII, Issue 80, 2 October 1944, Page 6

AWKWARD MOMENTS

ADVENTURESS THE DARK

(Official War Correspondent N.Z.E.F.) . ADRIATIC, September 27. This is a' ,war of surprises, particularly in the forward areas in the small [hours of the morning. The latest Kiwi ito find this out is Private H. C. Worth jof Auckland, regimental aid post man ("with a northern company. During the \ (advance north-west of Rimini, he was ;plodding along with his ..first-aid kit 'and full pack m the wake of the unit, (Which was pressing forward towards ,the .Bordonchio crossroads. At the •moment there were no wounded to attend to, and the darkness was confusing For a few minutes he thought ,'he. had lost the .company,' but' was ■quickly reassured when he saw a line ,of trudging men ahead. He overhauled them. Two -were talking together in.low tones,-and everything .seemed to be going as: it should be. _V^ th cau Sh* up with the last man. ;"Who are you blokes?" he asked. Then in a flash;.he saw he had made a mistake. theKwere fifteen husky German paratroopers, fully armed "and buridened -with Spandaus- and boxes of :ahimunition. ■ . The New Zealander immediately slipped his pack and dived for cover, leaving .the gear on the ground. The Germans -were slow to follow, and ' ' though he heard them shooting into a ditch nearby, he escaped. It was I not long before he found his company. ,The company commander was quite, incredulous at first, but sent out a patrol to. investigate. Before they had ' gone far several men were wounded. ,Other things occupied the remainder of the night; but in the morning .Worth set out to cover the field of the advance in search o£ casualties, and then learned that another company had met and dealt with the German patrol. ■.-He found the scene of the conflict, where there was a heap of '* German equipment, and amongst it he found his pack and medical kit, with a much valued pair of binoculars he had been carrying., ' Another man iri the same company lost his way about the same time. When he was stumbling through the darkness trying to regain contact he came upon an enemy patrol. Seeking ' the cover of a ditch he stalked them unti} an opportunity offered, and then lobbed a grenade among them. Screams and grbans followed the ex- - plosion, and on- the following morning the bodies of seven paratroopers were found huddled about the spot.