New Zealanders In Sicilian Campaign

Northern Advocate, 24 August 1943, Page 2

New Zealanders In Sicilian Campaign

I (Rec. 11 a.m.) •' LONDON, Aug. 23 j News has recently been filtering through} to London of New Zealanders’ activities im the Sicilian campaign, I | Lieutenant H. K. Rhodes, R.N.Z.N.V.R. | (Auckland) commanded a landing craft. : '.He was in a section whose objective war; near Gela. It, was to go in shortly after} : the initial assault but, on arrival fount! > ! thar the city had fallen and that me! j enemy had taken up strategic positions jin the hills. Ships manoeuvred in the; |bay in broad daylight entirely unmolestedj except for an occasional sneak-raide t which swept down low over the hills to; bomb or machine-gun the craft. Lieut.; ! Rhodes landed American troops on the I [beach at the appointed hour but unfor- ] tunately picked up a wire round the' port propeller, leaving him with only one: [engine. There was a fairly heavy sea! ! running and the craft went broadside on; j the beach but, after working roost oi ih»*; [night they refloated the following morn-I ling. By that time they had spent six and} |a "half 'hours on an enemy beach at the; I mercy of any hostile aircraft —had there.! |been any. Lieut. Rhodes anchored in the 'bay for another day and night and alter [darkness enemy bombers attacked, near-. i missing his craft. ! The bay was lit up picturesquely by; j flares and tracer bullets. Presently: j prisoners arrived. The Italians’ chief re-; !action was gladness that the war had ended; I for them while the Germans enquired re - j 'garding the Russian front. Lieut. Rhodes: subsequently visited Tunis. ’ N.Z. Airman’s Part : Sergeant M. Petrie, of Ashburton, was, I among the many New Zealand airmen : I who took part in the bombing of Sicily,, ialso Pantellaria and Lampedusa. He has: I completed over (30 operations. He was previously wounded in Tunisia when he' : picked up a German revolver which was, |a booby-trap, but after spending two. j months in hospital lie returned m opera-; : lions. I Five motor fishing vessels have made a, !25C0 miles passage from Britain to the} I Mediterranean under (heir own power to t inlay their part as floating filling stations; 1 for" the Sicilian Islands. They are some: [from a large flotilla specially built for the} lAdmiralty. Lieutenant W. A. E. Leonard.; I R.N.Z.N.V.R.. of Auckland, who has just j 1 returned to England, tells the story, "wo [loaded our little 60-foot ships to the gunwales with drums of Diesel oil. petrol and ! lubricating oil and set off astern cl one |convoy. We were so low in the water [and it was so rough that each of us 1 thought the others were going to sink t [any moment but. as the sun went down jso "did the seas. When we arrived ml I Sicily our ships went alongside the land-ing-craft and filled their fuel tanks, while freighters loaded them with tanks, guns [and stores. In this way a continuous ; stream of landing craft were able to ferry I all dav between the invasion fleet anct i beaches. What fascinated me was the I : way the American ‘ducks’ loaded up wttn 'high octane petrol, steamed asnore.j 1 climbed up the beaches and roared along | the roads at 50 miles an hour to the laneling grounds our paratroops had captured.; jit is undoubtedly due to them that we, ! were atole to keep such a strong hghtei , i cover in the air. We greatly increased : j the armament of our ship while at Sicily !at the enemy’s expense. We captured j iseme Italian Breda guns and tons of, ammunition and mounted them ataoaid.; |We had plenty of opportunity to use thej I guns.”