N.Z. Troops Knew Hunger In Pacific

Northern Advocate, 15 December 1943, Page 4

N.Z. Troops Knew Hunger In Pacific

Insight into the landing of New Zealand troops at one of the Pacific Islands north of New Caledonia is provided in a letter received by Mr. W. J. Court, of Whangarei, from Staff-Sergeant E. W. Hay, of Whangarei. Thanking Mr. Court for parcels ire had sent, Staff-Sergeant Hay stated that one received shortly after the troops had let'l New Caledonia was most welcome as the soldiers had been on light rations. Few men had not lost a little weight and they knew what it was like to be really hungry. They had had bully beef in every way possible and the men were thankful that a new ration period, when they would also get bread, was to commence shortly after he had written. Bread would be most welcome as they had not had any for nearly a month and even the old army biscuit had been sadly missing. It was truly remarkable how cheerful the men had been considering the conditions under which they had been living. Have Dene Good Job "The main thing is we have been in action at long last and feel that when we come home we will be able to hold up cur heads and say we have done a good job,” he continued. All had been excited on learning that they had to prepare to move into battle. After having been in the forward area for six weeks they had gone aboard troop-ships and sailed at dawn the next morning, having a g'ooc\ though cramped, trip in small vessels built on a special design so they could be run up cn beaches for landing. On the leading ship of the convoy, he was able to see the - great sight presented by the convoy and then the outline of the objective. Destroyers had raced past and fired shots at the enemy positions on the beaches. As the boats had moved near the beaches guns of all sizes had opened up. The fire of the Japanese mortars had been deadly ancl had caused most of the casualties. 250 Tons In 25 Minutes While tire troops had landed in different places those with Staff-Sergeant Hay had set about their task of unloading their ship, and getting it out of range as quickly as possible. Alter all had gone ashore, they cut their way into the jungle with large knives and dumped their weapons and equipment they returned on board to start unloading. “We unloaded in record time over 250 tons Of equipment, amrhunitibn and rations,” Staff-Sergeant Hay added, with the pungent comment: “I think that beats all waterside workers’ records, especially as every item had to be shifted by hand. Soon all the men were saturated with perspiration and sea water. The main fighting was going on approximately 1000 yards away and the troops unloading had their exciting moment, too. They were fortunate in having a good aii cover and he did not believe one Japanese won through. although the main base was only a few miles away. Since then, however, the Japanese had made up for it as the New Zealanders had had only two nights free of raids in the last three weeks. Tried 25 Mile Swim The whole day was full of excitement and there was no sleep that night. For three nights Staff-Seregant Hay had hardly any sleep and for live days did not remove his clothes. During that peiv iod the clothes were wet and the rations dry, but he had managed to set up a burner unit and get for the boys a hot cup of tea which was the best they had ever tasted. . While he had been delivering equipment on another portion of the island a few days later the natives had brought in a Japanese prisoner who had been trying to swim to a Japanese-held island 25 miles away, he concluded. Several had tried it, each taking with them a log fol support. *