“REAL GOOD SHOW”

Timaru Herald, Volume CLIII, Issue 22479, 14 January 1943, Page 2

“REAL GOOD SHOW”

Modern Weapons Of

Warfare

Successful Demonstration

An air of expectancy ruled among the group of officers on the forward edge of a high sandhill. Idly, two or three plucked twigs from the high marram grass and lupin bushes so that they could see the better. A shattering crash split the air. Fieldglasses were raised to follow the flight of a bomb hundreds of feet in the air before it emitted a volume of white smoke as it came down toward its objective. Others followed in quick succession as the weapon, a two-inch mortar, laid a perfect smoke screen along the foreshore, ovei- half a mile

away. Tills scene was enacted on the coast-line near Wanganui, when the commandant, Lieut.-Colonel 8. M. Satterthwaite, N.Z. Staff Corps, and officers attending the New Zealand Tactical School, attended a demonstration of live shell firing given by a company under Major J. P. Wells. Pugarees and badges showed that the officers in the group came from various units of the Army, and they were close to the observation post—referred to by all as the “O-Pip”— from which the troop commander directed the firing of the guns.

When the officers from the school reached the rendezvous earlier in the day everything was in readiness for the demonstration. Troops were lined up, the weapons of the unit arranged for inspection, and their intricacies were explained in detail by non-com-missioned officers in charge. The first operation was the unloading and loading of a platoon truck by its members. Upon the truck’s attrival it was camouflaged In double-quick time, and for the purpose of allround defence Bren-guns were the first to be unloaded. Then came grenades, a two-inch mortar, and anti-tank guns, which were immediately set up in position. Tools were unpacked and the men supplied with picks and shovels alternatively. The rest of the supplies, which included medical kit, packs, reserve ammunition and sundry other gear, completed the task, and the truck then moved away to cover. After a brief interval the order was given to load, this being carried out systematically and expeditiously. Accurate Shooting “A real good show,” was the comment of an officer who has conducted similar operations in actual warfare with the 18th Battalion of the Second N.Z.E.F. (First Echelon). “The quickness, cleanliness of movement and discipline was every bit as good as I witnessed in the Middle East,” he added. The “school” had the opportunity of viewing some accurate shooting by a sergeant, with a “Tommy-gun” and also with a rifle with bayonet fixed, both being fired from the hip. At the command single shots and bursts were fired alternatively St a small target about 30 yards away. The accuracy of the rifle, fired from this position, was amazing. Concentrated fire-power at a spot between two flags was demonstrated by a unit manning three Bren-guns. The target area was blanketed with spouts of sand which clearly indicated the landing point of the bullets. It was good shooting. "There you see good coverage. It would be rather ‘sticky’ in the target area right now,” remarked the officer in charge of the unit. He was still pleased and well pleased. The effectiveness of a concentrated smoke screen was shown by the use of the two-inch mortar, firing from both high and low elevations. Medium machine-guns were also seen in action, firing at a selected point out at sea. Here again the shooting was excellent, the unit finishing up the demonstration with a barrage which covered an area of about 200 yards. The assembling and dismantling of these guns was carried out with clockwork precision. Effective Weapon Meanwhile, behind a line of sandhills, preparations were being carried out for a demonstration by a threeinch mortar which was to be brought into position by a universal carrier specially built for work of this kind. At the point of intended action a range-finder was set up in position and the ground marked out for the laying of a base plate to carrv the mortar. When all was in readiness the signal was given for the carrier to proceed into action, and it made nothing of the soft sand and hills. Fifty yards from the base was the nearest the carrier could travel. The crew proceeded to unload the mortar and set it up on its base, and within a few minutes the first shot was fired out to sea. The effect of this weapon was astounding, for at the impact with the water shrapnel was thrown in all directions. A barrage was laid across a certain area, five bombs being in the air at once, proving how devastating this weappn could be in cleaning up the front as an army advanced. It was a satisfying demonstration of a gun which has bitten deeply into the strength of the Axis forces. The gun is accurate and flexible, for it may be used as a howitzer, firing at a high angle and thus dropping shells immediately behind the crests of hills. It has opened up many an Axis tank and can be used with both speed and effect. During the whole of the operation a field radio was used to broadcast per medium of loud-speakers, a running commentary of the proceedings.