BATTLES IN BALKANS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 76, 4 August 1941, Page 4

BATTLES IN BALKANS

i NEW ZEALAND MACHINEGUNNERS - GENERAL FREYBERG’S PRAISE Cairo, Aug. 2. Few jobs in land warfare demand ' more nerve and stamina than that of the machine-gunners. The New Zeaj la nd gunners who took part in the Balkan battles demonstrated these ’ qualities so outstandingly that the General Officer Commanding the i N.Z.E.F., Major-General Freyberg. . when visiting them yesterday, found cause to express his unstinted admiration for the way they had proved 1 themselves. c Major-General Freyberg, who rel i viewed the unit at a ceremonial pari ade, recalled that he had watched the progress of the machine-gunners with - particular interest from their mobiiisa--1 tion through their early training and I the building up of their desert worthi--1 r.ess to their first action. He had been ' impressed by the state of physical fitness in which they took up battle sta--1 tions and praised highly the way they carried the guns and other heavy 5 equipment out across country inacces- ' 1 sible to motor vehicles. Telling the new members that they had a great reputation to live up to ; Major-General Freyberg urged the ' unit to maintain its standard of fitJ ness. Because they were divided in 3 action in groups operating in sup- . port of formations of infantry machinegunners did not often attract individual attention. The deadly fire of our Vickers guns on the northern border of i Greece was, however, one of the first tastes the German invaders had of the - British opposition, and the New Zealand machine- gunners left their mark i on several other battlefields. Those who served later in Crete worked under extremely difficult conditions. sometimes having to use sandbags and tree trunks instead of tripods to support their guns. These men were as tough as any New Zcai land troops. Their training was pari ticularlv rigorous, and had included l long desert marches in which the lightJ cst load carried by any man. apart 1 from regular equipment, was 500 rounds of ammunition. Some were burdened with guns, others with tripods and others with four gallons of 1 cooling water. One of the finest traits of all the New Zealand fighting men during the Balkans withdrawal marches was the instinctive way in which they clung to their weapons. The severe training of the machine-gunners had proved of value in the preservation of their I heavier than the average equipment.