HIGHLY PRAISED

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 4670, 14 December 1944, Page 4

HIGHLY PRAISED

| R.N.Z.A.F. IN THE PACIFIC AMERICAN MAGAZINES 'riiißUi. High praise for the Hying and giou-; , pc-rtc-.uoi o. the RN.Z.A.i'', ui me I- - ;, cilio id contained :n a a ar ncio pi, as. red 1.1 the American magazine ifr'iie article is on titled: “ Our Aliy—New Zealanders ua dor United States Wavy O.unman; have put up Remarkable Iteco. a against Japs.” The article deals mainly with the first phase of the South Pacific campaign covering- the Solomons and Bismarck Archipelago. The New Zealanders wore then flying Warhawk fighters as close cover to American bombers making- attacks on Japanese airfield i on Bougainville. New Britain and New Ireland. Now the daily programme of bombing and strafing the Japanese Co. ces remaining on those islands is done with Corsair fighterbombers and eVntura bombers. The article in ‘ Flying ’ recalls trial R.N.Z.A.P. flying and ground person nol arrived in the combat zone In November, 1942, moving into the fighting on Guadalcanal’. The writer explains liow the system of high, medium, low and close cover for bombers was developed, entailing four layers of fighters above each formation of bombers to prevent interception by Zeros. The R.N.Z.A.F. provided the close cover for many months. The article explains that this was the most difficult and most dangerous work of the lot, because the fighters remained wltr the bombers as they went right across the target area and were exposed to the fiercest attacks of the enemy fighters and the full intensity of anti-air-craft fire. In addition, the article P'"hits out, the New Zealander-; tool; part in nume ous fighter sweeps ovo: enemy territory and fought many coni- ' bats with the Zeros. They did that with so much success that by the time | enemy air power in the Solornons-D’s-nia.rcks area was neutralised 99 of the enemy a hj ern t shot down went to the credit of the R.N.Z.A.F. Fighter Squadrons. The ai tide quotes several instance;, to show that New Zealand Warhc.wks even though heavily outnumbered, outfought formations of Zeros. It also > im-.,ea tile less spectacular but equal y valuable work done by the xv.i'-i..;1,A,F, dive bomber and medium bomber crews. Discussing the New Zealanders as individuals the article says: ‘Tough, knotty, good-natured, they seem to make a fetish of taking on impossible jobs with cheery unconcern. All through the Solomons they are favorites. An outstanding characteristic i s their extreme modesty. In the face of compliments your average New Zealander will probably turn red, hem and haw, splutter and gurgle and then desperately attempt to steer the conversation into some other channel.” Elaborate tribute is paid to the maintenance staffs of the R.N.Z.A.F. Commenting on the New Zealand characteristic of skilful improvisation, the article says; “Any stray metal on Bougainville magically disappears and turns up next day on a plane of the R.N.Z.A.F. Whenever one o their planes crashes within mcasurcable distance of their headquarters, the New Zealanders lug it homo, no matter how bad its condition. • The sight of a group of these cheerful men dragging pieces of unidentifiable wreckage on* of the jungle no longer causes an v amazement in the Solomons. Everybody realises the smashed-up aeroplane will somehow rise again like a Phoenix.”

-JOBS AFTER THE WAR Britain's Mimster for Labor, Mj Ernest Bevin, revealed in the Commons that soldiers embarking' for France called out to him and to the Prime Minister voicing their anxiety regarding chances of finding work when the war has been won. “The one question they put to me,” he said “was: ‘Ernie, when we have done this job for you are we coming back to the dole?’ It stung, he Prime Miniate' 1 and I answered them; ‘No, you arc not.’ ”