GUARDIANS OF COAST

Greymouth Evening Star, 20 September 1940, Page 3

GUARDIANS OF COAST

1 WATCH OF COOK STRAIT. Night and day, wet weather or fine, men of the Royal New Zealand Artillery keep ceaseless watch ovei’ vital points of the New Zealand coast. No sea raider, no hostile, or suspicious vessel can enter or attack the port of Wellington or threaten the Dominion’s capital city with impunity (says the “Dominion”). The great guns which poke sleek muzzles seaward from many secret emplacements would be more than a match for any battleship afloat. From one of these guns, within a few hours of the outbreak of war, were fired perhaps the first British shots of the conflict —to bring-to a merchantman entering the port without observing the requirements of the examination service.

By these guns their crews stand by, watch and watch, constantly ready for any alarm. Within a minute or two of that alarm, should it ever be given, the guns would be in action. The keenness and smartness of the crews is such that they think nothing of turning out for gun drill at any hour of the day or night; there is little they would like better than to try in action the weapon with which they have practised so frequently. While those on duty stand by through the night, those who will take the second night watch sleep a yard or two from the guns, in special quarters, ready also to turn out at need. By day single sentries, by night pairs, keep guard against any unauthorised person who may manage to enter the fortified area, or to effect an approach from the sea. Such a one would have no chance of getting near the guns or searchlights. From the narrow windows of subterranean control rooms watchers look out over the ocean. Powerful telescopes enable them to identify any funnel that comes into sight over the horizon. Modern range-finding equipment is used for laying the guns. The control room communicates by telephone with the guns of the battery, and from it, too, the officer in charge can personally manipulate the powerful searchlights located perhaps a considerable distance away. f The lights are located in special emplacements, screened and camouflaged, and are powered by the most modern Diesel machinery. Their powerful beams will pick out a ship several miles away. It would be quite impossible for any vessel to sneak through the harbour mouth, even in thick weather or fog, or under cover of a smoke screen, without the guns

being able to locate her exactly. Besides the big guns which are to ward off attack from the sea, light quick-firer and Lewis guns are ready to bring down reconnaissance aircraft, deal with fast-moving motor vessels, or assist in the control of shipping. For instance, a few bursts from a gun were used last week to warn a fisherman that he was operating in forbidden waters. The forts-on the shore co-operate of course, with the naval examination service controlling the port. Communication with the examination vessel is ordinarily by Morse or by semaphore signalling. AN INTERESTING JOB. Life in a coastal battery is by no means uninteresting. The varied traffic of the coast flows beneath the grim muzzles of the guns. No ship, even the most familiar, passes without most careful scrutiny. The work of the modern gunner is highly technical and requires intensive training. There is a great deal of upkeep and maintenance work to be done in the daytime. Physical training, small arms drill, and gun drill, occasional manoeuvres in conjunction with vessels, practice shoots, shifts on watch or standing by, and, of course, leave from time to time, make up the artilleryman’s routine. His is a healthy outdoor life, and his job is more specialised and skilled, and less monotonous than almost any in the service. He is a student of the weather, because the weather makes a great deal of difference to the pleasure and the difficulty of his work. Though in wet weather the lookouts can peer through glass panes, the searchlight crews must shiver in at best only partial shelter from wind and rain, while if it is necessary to man the guns this must be carried out in the teeth of the elements. All the gales of Cook Strait howl and whistle round the cliffs and headlands where the guns are placed. On the other hand, there are compensations; and in fine weather, off i duty, the gunners can fish and bathe in the pleasant bays or take part in the social activities of the fort. There is an outstanding camp band at Fort Dorset, a camp which in the past year has changed and grown almost beyond recognition. FORT VERSUS SHIP. The question is often asked: How | would the Wellington forts get on against a modern warship? The gunners are confident they would get on very well. Their range-finding and i spotting, based on cross-bearings

from points miles apart along the coast, would be infinitely more accurate than that of a warship, and foi the matter of that the practice of a land battery compares more than favourably with that of a ship afloat. Though some modern warships might carry guns of heavier calibre or slightly greater range, this would be more than neutralised by the natural advantages of a shore battery. And compared with a ship, land batteries form only minute targets, requiring a direct hit to incapacitate them. As they are practically invisible from seaward, camouflaged and concealed, it would be almost entirely a matter of luck if the warship scored a hit. So Wellington citizens can sleep secure, confident that they will never wake up to find an enemy warship or commerce raider has slipped into the port and is holding it at ransom.