Full Story Of Island Tank Action

Northern Advocate, 15 March 1944, Page 2

Full Story Of Island Tank Action

(Official N.Z.E.F. War Correspondent)

STH. PACIFIC BASE. March 13

For the first time in their history a tank squadron of the third New Zealand Division went into action on Nissan Island supporting infantry units which destroyed the last remaining nest of Japanese on the atoll. This action began unexpectedly and with startling suddenness, as so often happens in the jungle where every man must be constantly on the alert. When night fell, over 60 Japanese lay dead in a grove of pandanus trees and along the shore, mowed down by our grenades, machine-guns and rifle-lire. Individual acts of bravery marked the whole action.

Weil tested in action on Vella Lavella, our men moved to attack with courage and precision, outwitting the Japanese by their superior skill and jungle tactics. As one officer remarked to me after the action: “The hard lessons we learned on Vella and Treasury were invaluable. We now know how to handle the Japanese. There are not the slightest signs of fear among the men. My difficulty was to hold them back for a final assault. Every man was determined to be in the show."

Thought to be Clear

The action began on the outskirts of the tiny native village of Tanakeran, about 150 yards from the low coral cliffs which border the coast of Nissan. All round the area are dense thickets and large trees where a man may remain concealed five yards away. This area, like all others on the island, had been patrolled and was though to be clear. Senior officers of the division, including Brigadier Potter, passed through it on the previous day and on the morning of action unaware that any Japanese were in the neighbourhood. Until the action actually began, jeeps bumped through the area over a rough track which had been gouged out of the jungle by engineers.

But that is one of the traps of jungle warfare. No one is ever certain where the* enemy may be lurking. At about 11.30 a.m. on February 20. Captain J. F. B. Stronach, of Christchurch, officer commanding a Bren . carrier platoon, was making a reconnaissance of the area with the object of establishing headquarters there. As it was lunch time he rested his men and decided to go for a swim.

A Rifle Cracked

A few minutes later cne of his men walked across towards the edge of the cliff. Suddenly a rifle cracked in the green gloom. A Jap had fired on him from behind a tree. Two sergeants immediately collected 15 men to search the area thinking that one or two Japanese stragglers had escaped our patrols. They were met by withering bursts of rifle and machine-gun fire acid two of their men fell wounded.

The firing brought Captain Stronach to the scene at the double. These were no stragglers. He realised that the Japs were there in considerable numbers. They were either hidden in caves along the shore or up in the trees and thus had escaped our patrols. In all he had 28 men assembled quickly from various units.

With this small force he formed a perimeter boxkig the Japs in along the coast with the object of holding them there until reinforcements arrived. It was impossible to estimate the enemy’s number. Not one could be seen. Only fluttering leaves and twigs torn off by bullets, told of an enemy hidden and defiant.

Miraculous Escape

* At first an attempt was made to l rescue Corporal Roy Stannard (Waerenga), of a carrier platoon, who lay i wounded in a field of fire. Although ■ Captain Stronach and some of his men | crawled to within 10 feet of him they ; could not effect a rescue as the Japs . riddled the area with rifle and morj tar fire. Corporal Stannard had a miraculous escape. Falling leaves and 1 branches covered him and he was t afterwards rescued by a tank. ; It was now midday. Lieutenant E. : H. Ryan (Hawera), who also was , making a reconnaissance of the area 1 with a platoon of a medium mach- , ine-gun company arrived and went into action on the right flank, spray- ■ the area from knee-high to the tops of the trees. Because of the noise it was impossible to pick up snipers bidden in the branches. So severe was the Jap. mortar fire that Lieut. Ryan’s machine-gunners were pinned in along the coast and a signal was sent for reinforcements. Soon afterwards lie was wounded. At two o’clock in the afternoon. Major R. J. Rutherford, New Plymouth, got his first tanks into action. Visi-. bility was limited and the great spreading roots of trees hampered the tank movements, but the trees were plastered with shrapnel from tanks and howitzers. Lieut. T. K. Evans, of Hawera, commanded one tank and Sergeant R. H. H. Beetham, Masterton, another.

Accurate Sniping Sergt. Beetham’s tank located Corporal Stannard and went in under a! hail of bullets to rescue him. Although the Japs were only 15 to 20 yards away, our men could not locate them accurately. All they aimed for was space. Jap. snipers picked off a tiny periscope on one tank and fired at an observation aperture no larger than a bullet. ’ Their accuracy was disturbing as evidenced by bullet marks on. the heavy metal. Two more tanks were now brought into action, one commanded by Lieut. D. Holden, Ongaonga, and the other by Corporal H. E. Johns, the wellknown Taranaki footballer, of New Plymouth.

Once more the area was plastered with shrapnel, bringing down showers of leaves and shattered branches. As the tanks were now too close for safety of our men, they were withdrawn. Meanwhile, Captain Stronach was still holding the perimeter, his rnen firing into an area where the Japs were pinned. Rough lumps of harsh coral rock and massive boles of trees gave cover to both attackers and attacked. It was difficult country.

By 3.30 p.m. Major A. B. Bullen (an Auckland officer commanding D Company) arrived with two platoons and the infantry, the real heroes of jungle fighting, prepared for a fingl assault. Enemy Strength NoJ Known Even now the strength of the enemy is not known although the quantity cf lead coming from the trees indicated considerable strength and also that the Japanese were plentifully supplied with large quantities of rifle, mach-ine-gun and mortar ammunition. ' Major Bullen took full command of the operation, moving his 14th platoon to the right flank and placing his 15th

platoon on the left. By now the Japs were well trapped and as our men moved forward the action developed into a perfect exhibition of grenade-throwing. All those laboidous hours of training and leaning how to throw grenades among

trees and into foxholes, firing from cover, etc., were proving their necessity and efficiency. y/ Remembering Vella Lavella and Treasury the men moved forward slowly but wisely. Major Bullen was shouting his orders and making his voice heard above the wicked crack of rifles, stutter of machine-guns and explosion of mortars. And every one of those orders was obeyed implicitly as his men closed in on the Japs now hemmed into a small area with a cliff* behind them. Every shouted order brought a storm of lead in Major Bullen’s direction as the Japs sought to find him and Jap. grenades came showering from the undergrowth. The Final Assault

Night was coming on and final clearingup had to be completed before darkness. Major Bullen had the whole situation under control and was elated by the conduct and coolness of his men. Word reached him that eight Japs, had been killed while trying to escape along the rug|ed coast. Corporal L. G. RatclifTe, of Kerepeehi, in charge of a picket, accounted for six with a Tomm.v-gim. Two others were despatched as they rounded some rocks. Meanwhile the net closed in. With only about a quarter of an hour of daylight left. Major Bullen gave orders lor a final assault to his impatient men. First a shower of grenades, every man hurling them vigorously, and with telling effect, then the final dash, the men firing as they stumbled and ran over jagged coral, avoiding the splaying roots of the pandanus trees. •

Officer Shot Dead

Just before that final dash, Captain P. T>. W. Adams, of Blenheim, fell dead, shot by a sniper. Victory was complete. Our losses wore remarkably light, thanks to skilful handling of the whole situation by Major Bullen and before his arrival bv Captain Stronach. They counted the dead—sl of them lying in distorted groups among the rocks and tree roots.

One wounded Jap., as our men approached him placed a hand-grenade cn. liis stomach and committed suicide' Only a few of the enemy escaped. They were accounted l'cr next clay. So night fell, swiftly with the setting of the sun. Pickets were posted to stare into the impenetrable mass of foliage, alert and'listening for sounds other than those which haunt the jungle—the harsh chirping of cicadas, the disturbing screech of night birds and jungle fowls and the drv rustle of large lizards among the leaves. All these sounds play havoc with the imagination. But nothing came that night. Morning found them tired, grimy and bearded, too tired almost to join the bands cf souvenir hunters who soon began to throng the area.