What is the Future Of the Third Division ?

Manawatu Times, Volume 69, Issue 206, 31 August 1944, Page 4

What is the Future Of the Third Division ?

MAY BE DESTINED FOR FAR EAST AUCKLAND, Aug. 30. With the exception of the further role and strength of the Royal New Zealand Air Force in the Pacific, no questioji has excited more public interest than that of the probable future use of the Third Division of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force. After an absence on service of 21 months the headquarters of the Third Division have been reopened in the Auckland district and preparations are in hand for rehabilitation in a military sense. The use of the word “rehabilitation” in this sense should not be confused with the term as applied to men being demobilised. It would appear that thorough reorganisation of the Division may be effected and that there will be a substantial intake of untrained men from civilian life. There is no certainty, it was gathered yesterday, concerning the part which the Division will play during the remainder of the war against Japan. It is commonly accepted, of course, that the division will not be sent to the European theatre.

FURTHER COMBAT TASKS? War Cabinet decisions as yet unannounced will dictate the future of the formation. What is important is the fact that the division is to continue as a military entity. Well-informed military opinion to-day is that the Third Division will again be allotted actual combat tasks. The division came into being in 1942 following the entry of Japan. It is well known that the nucleus of the division was the brigade of New Zealand troops based on Fiji in 1941 and earlier. It was this division which was concentrated in the Auckland and South Auckland areas and which was exercised by its present commander, Major-General H. E. Barrowclough, in the first divisional manoeuvres ever undertaken In New Zealand. On these manoeuvres the rugged Kalmai Ranges, behind Putaruru, provided an exacting test of the quality of officers, men and equipment.

The Kaimai exercises proved of the utmost value to all ranks when the division went on active service in the Pacific. It was the Third Division troop# which, after further advanced training in New Caledonia, went north to engage the Japanese. The division first saw action on Vella Lavella, where the Japanese forces in the north of the island were cleaned out by our men. Next a fresh group of the division played a leading part in the capture of the Treasury Islands. Troops from Vella Lavella later captured Green Island. For the rest, the division was allotted garrison duty under which many of the men chafed. This year numbers of the men returned to New Zealand to be directed into essential industries.

NOT TO BE WOUND UP The commonly-held belief that the Third Division is to be wound up and all ranks returned to civilian life is not in accordance with well-informed military opinion. It is believed that at least three large camps will be in use for the military rehabilitation of the men who are now in New Zealand on furlough. Forty days’ leave, plus up to four days’ travelling time, has been granted all ranks. On the expiry of furlough it is clear that the men are going into camp for further training. There has been no public announcement concerning the future of the Second Division, N.Z.E.F., in Italy. It has been maintained at full strength since it went into action in Greece in 1941. x lt is almost certain that the Third Division will be “rehabilitated” in camps in the Auckland area. There has been no official announcement that drafts of fresh men will Join the division, instead of going into reinforcements for Italy, but there are grounds for believing that this is likely. Military opinion is that the war against Japan will require renewed effort following the defeat of the Nazi armies in Europe. In this effort the British Empire is pledged to full participation. By reason of their geographical situation Australia and New Zealand will most naturally take a prominent part in the .British effort. Thus, in the absence of official information to the contrary, it would seem that substantial numbers of New Zealand troops will be privileged to engage in the conclusive phase of the war against Japan in a combatant role. It may even happen, some believe, that elements of the Second Division now in Italy—excluding those men who bore the brunt of the fighting in the campaigns in Greece, Crete and Libya—may be transferred to a theatre where they can contribute to the overthrow of New Zealand’s nearest enemy. There is opinion which favours the strengthening of the Third Division by the inclusion of men tested in the crucible of war in Italy.