JUNGLE FIGHTERS

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVIII, Issue 81, 3 October 1944, Page 6

JUNGLE FIGHTERS

THE FIJIAN FORCES

N.Z;LEADERS\DECORATEb€ SOUTH PACIFIC BASE COMMAND > ; HEAD^ARTERS;^ep.tember^2K Two battalion commanders of: the famous Fiji Battalion whose- jungle fighting successes became a legend oh Bougainville have j ust been awarded the United States Erorize Star * MedaL by Major-Genera! Frederick Gilbreath, commanding the- South .Pacific Base Command. . • -- V ;; ;';"v One is Lieut-Colonel Geoffrey^ T: Upton, a Cambridge \ graduate and former London "Daily Telegraph" staff man, whose home is- now -in Remuera, Auckland, and the other Lieut-Colonel Francis W. Voelcker, of Keri Keri, Bay of Islands. It was Colonel Upton who succeeded the original commander) Lieut-Colonel. J. B. K. Taylor, a New Zealander. who lived in Fiji and-helped to organise the native forces, but who was wounded by a personnel bomb the night-the battalion arrived in Bougainville and evacuated to New. Caledonia. ;: : :v : j Colonel Upton's award covers the period from January 12 to Aprils3o this year, when the battalion successfully occupied the Ibu outpost, 20 miles beyond the American perimeter, and constructed the Kameli strip for air supply and. evacuation. He also submitted valuable information concerning Japanese preparation "for an assault on the perimeter defences, enabling U.S. commanders to ■' take ' countermeasures which contributed materially to repulse the hostile effort during March.— •■ ■ ■.-. '\'.-y'-,; ■ ..• ■V-;?:'-:-..V-." :: AGGRESSIVE LEADERSHIP. The citation adds: , "Colonel Upton performed gallantly on- numerous rer connaissance in force missions, leading "his battalion into strongly-held Japanese territory. Throughout this prolonged period of intense activity, he exhibited aggressive leadership,: keen foresight, and devotion to duty." Colonel Voelcker's award is for the period from March 20 to June 5. As battalion commander he pursued the fleeing Japanese and made a sweep along the Numa Numa "trail in .the Java Creek area. Later he led "his ■ troops in : a fierce . assault, which: he planned and executed brilliantly, securing the flank of the-Allied positions and keeping open vital lines of communication. ./ : "Then, from May 30 to June 5,; Colonel Voelcker led his battalion on' an im^ portarit reconnaissance mission, sweeping the Empress Augusta Bay.; shore from the Tekessi River to Mawaraka Point. During this successful amphibious operation .valuable information was secured, many enemy/fortifications' destroyed, and six artillery field pieces captured. ; :' • ;; ■-. ''"■'..'.'■■'': V THE COMMANDOS. ; , The work of this Ist Battalion, >Fijiah Infantry Regiment, .' which ; -" prior to going to Bougainville had assumed the responsibility for Kolomoangara Island, •between New Georgia arid Vella Lavella, is not to be confused with that of the. Fijian CommandosI—also1 —also trained and officered by New Zealand'ers. The Commandos have an equally •brilliant record, .beginning at Guadal-'carial^-with great patrol work there oh Sari Cristobal, 1 New Georgia, the Russells; arid-many other islands. The first:i Commandos, a "Special : Party" comprising-s€ven .New Zealanders and 20 Fijians/i didh-suchr;,. fine work ;in January, ' 1943j>:sothafcj:r<Major-General Patch asked a) that^ priority should be given, for another larger party of 40 -New.Zealanders and 165 natives, of whom 28 were Tongans. Back in Fiji, the Zealanders of the Bth and-jl4th>BHg4de Groups, presently to distiflgvuskiJhdft: selves at Vella Lavella, the Treasuries; and Green Island, had carried yrout manoeuvres with the local cominandog? and the Ist Fiji Battalion, whom they found to be a very slick lot • The Solomons campaign has now cemented lasting friendship between Fiji and -New Zealand, just tas •Gallipoli brought Australians, and Nev.' Zealanders together for all time. valuable native penetra- .-.-. .-...hons..■,..;■■■■■■■■■;:' ■■■■;.> Sgt C. R. Larsen, a New Zealander. whp trained -for many. months...with.' the Fijian commandos, and who fought with them until his third bout of malaria returned him to New Caledonia—incidentally he edited the unit's newspaper "Guerrilla. Gazette"—has written a highly interesting account of their doings. He says the New Zealanders had so adopted the; bush that it was "second nature" for them, as it was for the Fijians. But he says, the Fijians had the advantage in their, eyesight and hearing. The Kiwis were.. just as good bushmen and were>;more : determined in walking long-distances. The Tongans were more- like the Maoris and fought outstandingly, although their bushcraft was not equal to the Fijians'. . .°.l\ '"' The Kameli;strip mentioned in Colonel Upton's citation is named after the only Fijian killed up to the time of its' construction.

It within two months of the initial landing at Empress Augusta Bay "that a reinforced company of the -Ist Fiji Battalion set out on the Numa Numa trail. Their destination was the small village of Ibu. The village is in the northern third of the island, equi-distant from Bougainville's highest active volcano, Mt. Balbi, 10,171 ft high, and the west coast, which the Japs then dominated. Reaching their destination after a four-day trip, the party established their base headquarters on the slope of the Crown Prince Range. Food was obtained by bartering trade goods with friendly natives and by "C" rations dropped by plane.

It was from Ibu that Fijian patrols ranged far and wide, ,gathering valuable information about the enemy and neatly killing numbers of them. During the first few weeks, their activity centred on the trails fringing the west coast between Asitavi Mission and Kiviri Point. They fought Jap groups frequently, and it was here that Kameli was killed, but they accounted for 22 Japs and five hostile natives. There were later daring penetrations into • enemy bivouac areas. In one visit to an enemy camp, a patrol killed 47 Japs without losing a man. At another time at a different bivouac, a group of card-playing. Japs had their game permanently ended with five grenades. • . -. ■-••-.

Such exploits were bound to attract enemy attention, and reports soon reached the Fijian outpost commander that superior forces were gathering to dispose of them. A carefully-planned defence system was set up providing for an orderly withdrawal if need be. The outpost then settled down to close in reconnaissance and ambush work, i 'After repelling three heavy Japanese attacks, the force started its'*- withdrawal and by making its way over little known and difficult terrain, the entire outpost personnel pushed back to friendlier territory and eventually to the Allied base at Torofcina.