INVASION PILOTS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 79, 8 February 1944, Page 2

INVASION PILOTS

N.Z. NAVAL OFFICERS RECAPTURE OF GILBERTS Auckland, Feb. 7. Three officers oi the Royal New Zealand Naval Reserve helped the American forces which recaptured Tarawa Island, in the Gilbert group. All were very familiar with the island and its waters, and were chosen to pilot the invasion fleet to the landing beaches, or to bombardment positions. The three officers were Lieut. G. J. Webster, R.N.Z.N.R., who was formerly in command of the colony vessel of the Gilbert Islands administration, Lieut. S. S. Page, R.N.Z.N.R., who used to command the London Missionary Society’s vessel in the group, and Lieut. J. Forbes. The lastnamed is better known as Captain Forbes, manager of the Devonport Steam Ferry Company. He was formerly an Auckland Harbour Board pilot, and before that commanded patrol and survey vessels in the service of the High Commissioner for the Western Pacific.

Webster was pilot for an American destroyer which was one of those assigned to the task of bombarding Japanese shore positions in preparation for the landing. The destroyer came under the fire of several batteries, but though it closed the range to about 2000 yards and had hundreds of shells launched at it, only three were hits, said Lieut. Webster. “One passed cleanly through the side into the sick bay, where it fell on the floor and failed to explode.” he said. “It was picked up and thrown overboard.” As a result of the escape of this destroyer, Webster has a poor opinion of the shooting of the batteries ' which engaged her. Fire was opened at medium range and continued to a range of about 2000 yards. Visibility was excellent and the waters were so confined that the ship had no chance to take evasive action, but in spite of these factors she steamed toward the shore for about threequarters of a mile before the first shell of scores fired at her struck. FANATICAL JAPANESE Webster's impressions of the landing were necessarily limited by the attention which he had to devote to his job, but he has very vivid memories of the desolation of the island which resulted from the fairly brief but bitterly contested attack on Betio. He said there is not a palm tree which he thinks can live. The fanatical determination of the Japanese to kill as many Americans as they could before they were themselves killed impressed him very forcibly. Part of the landing force had to pass between a long pier and a Japanese ship which had been beached after a successful American air attack at some time previously. Dozens of Japanese lashed themselves to the piles of the pier and shot at whoever they could, while in the beached ship there seemed to have been set up a large number of machine-gun posts. It was noteworthy, said Webster, that the majority of about 80 Americans who were brought out to his destroyer for medical attention had been shot in the back They had been enfiladed between the pier and the ship. The lattei was shortly afterward quietened by a naval bombardment, but next day more Japanese were there as busy as ever. They had boarded it at night and seemed to have helped themselves to some American equipment from destroyed landing barges The snipers on the piei were there for days, and even on the fifth day when the occupation was complete Webster was sniped at while he was beaching landing barges. However, by the time he left the island all the pier snipers had been killed. THICK CONCRETE DEFENCE Webster confirmed other statements about the strength of the Japanese shore batteries. He had just managed to span the thickness of the concrete in one of them with both his arms stretched to their uttermost. The Japanese defenders themselves seemed to be an elite body. He did not see any shorter than about sft Bin, anc saw a number who we>e 6ft and taller. They appeared to be amply supplied.and he had seen great piles of tinned food which had been captured by the Americans. Another task given Webster while he was in the Gilberts was to go with a force sent to occupy the smaller island of Ahemama s A few Japanese were left on the island, and when the American force appeared the commanding officer apparently lined them up and killed them all before killing himself. The enemy chose this form of mass hari kiri in preference to capture and the landing was not opposed.