TROOPS IN PACIFIC

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 87, Issue 232, 1 October 1943, Page 3

TROOPS IN PACIFIC

DISEMBARKATION TASK AT RECORD SPEED (Official War Correspondent, N.Z.E.F.) Guadalcanal. "I have just noted with great pleasure the splendid performance ol elements ot the New Zealand Division during their recent disembarkation. This excellent effort augurs well for the success of future operations, and reflects the high state of morale, discipline, and training attained by all ranks in the units concerned. Please accept this expression of my appreciation and convey my personal congratulations to all elements of the command.” This message from an Allied commanding general in the South Pacific area was received by the G.O.C. Third (New Zealand) Division, MajorGeneral H. E Barrowclough, soon after the arrival of the New Zealand troops in a forward Pacific area. A frank testimony to the efficiency of the New Zealanders in their first landing in a combat area, this expression of a high officer's opinion was shared by all the Allied officers and men who witnessed the landing operations. One officer who had served with the United States Marine Corps in the original Solomons landings a year before, and who had been with the Dominion troops since their departure from New Caledonia, found his estimated unloading time undercut by 40 per cent. The New Zealanders shifted themselves and their gear, rations, vehicles, guns, and ammunition from ship to shore 10 per cent, faster than any troops had previously landed in that area. Though they sweltered on their way across the sand in uncomfortable heat their keenness for the job emptied the landing craft as fast as they could tumble their ramps on to the shore. Officers on the transports, which turned round in the shortest time on record, signalled to tire Allied Command of the New Zealanders’ performance, and the Allied Command added its congratulations to those of the New Zealand G.O.C. A copy of that message is now in possession of the officers commanding the units concerned.