FIRST TASTE OF COMBAT

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 78, 29 September 1943, Page 5

FIRST TASTE OF COMBAT

TO JO’S AIR FORCE HOLDS RECEPTION NEW ZEALANDERS RUN FOR FOXHOLES (Official War Correspondent, N.Z.E.F.) Guadalcanar. Japanese bomber aeroplanes gave New Zealand troops in the Pacific their first taste of combat very soon after the Division’s arrival in a forward area, in the light of a full moon, odd emissaries from General Tojo’s air force hell a reception for the new arrivals several nigrits in the first ten days and though the New Zealanders suffered no damage or casualties, the boom of a few poorly-directed bombs and the roar of ack-ack guns sent the men In hot haste for their foxholes. It does not pay to be curious in an air raid. Ack-ack guns have a nasty habit of showering shrapnel over a wide area, as a few New Zealanders craning their necks in the air learned early in the piece. The whine and “plink” of bits of shrapnel are a sobering influence on the most adventurous souls. Cooks at one camp found a sizeable chunk of steel outside their open fireplace one morning. One man stopped a crack on the shoulder on his first night ashore. The jolt was the worst part of it. As a gentle introduction to realistic war noises, Tojo’s visits are warmly appreciated. As a temporary disturber of a night’s sleep they are of some slight nuisance value. Asa demonstration of Japanese formidability they are an unqualified failure.