WORKS SERVICE ENGINEERS COMPLETE FIRST YEAR OF ACTIVITES: LOOKING BACK TO WAIOURS.

Dozerdust, Volume 2, Issue 18, 20 May 1944, Page 3

WORKS SERVICE ENGINEERS COMPLETE FIRST YEAR OF ACTIVITES: LOOKING BACK TO WAIOURS.

. WORKS SERVICE ENGIN- • EERS are now twelve months old. On April ’ 29th the " Advance Party" arrived in Nev/ Caledonia ’ and prepared the present: site for a camp for the _ main body which arrived ‘ on Sunday May 23nd 1943- ‘ FOR the first few r weeks everyone experien- 1 ced a bout of homesick-;' ness which was not without an element of irrit- ‘

ation through absence of • tools and equipment whichit was thought had pro-c----v eed Unit to lbw. Caledonia. Shortages of ; exes, hammers and shov&ls gave rise to a good de&l of imp 10 vising. In 100-, back over the period it’lia s ’to be admitted that, apart from an occ- - a siihadL- aeon siloing, adju-st-uf’*nts to the new l_if e

were soon made' 7 . Beginnings. .TEST to arrive in -. Waiouru was Capt. W. P. R>yd, Lieut. F. J, Clarke and Lieut. D. Brooker, -• Wen we arrived said. Captain Boyd, "no one knew anything about us, . so we had to hunt around’ and finally found our-- Jselves in Area 7 • On !

the 12th. Lieut . R.R. ' * Torric and 2/Lieut. J.K. ' Scott wmdnrmi the -13 th ; Biotas W. Wind & S.Trem- 1 a in. LATE on Tuesday 12th : a contingent arrived f from Papakura, and on ;

the South Isi - i 'and quota arrived. Per- : sonnel had been chosen < ,• earlier in the month, ! some having been taken : out of Units as early asi March 43, while others i were marched straight' i r in from civil life. A number of picked meh » ” Earthworms ” they , . termed themselves, were '

were trails f e from Aerodrom 3 Construction Units - among them men who had seen " very active service " in other theatres of war. TRAINING. APRIL 15th. found training well under way, and by May 19th the training schedule which, covered range work in

rifle, tommy gun, bren -and grenade throwing had been completed. creation. WHILE the solid side of camp life went ahead, the recreational activities were not neglected. As early as April 28-th . -a So , had "been set up consisting

of Sprs & Ced Reid. E. Clark, J. Gardiner, T. Skelton, Et> Sainsbury, .\- W. Charleton, A >(? Bluck and Wo Clarke. The Com-., mitte was an active one, , Card tournament s-wcre organised- and a dance held in the Orderly Room on May sth, which sf 011 owed by a hen? on the l'sth,7 and a further one' planned for the j 22nd,

WHARF LL X FIRST member of the Works Whar Operating 1 Unit to.be in Waiouru was Spr. Jack Bur-chillJ-On April 24 th./ si & members of 3 r d_Biv ; Reinforcements were trans * . ferrod to Capt o Boyd’s care until Wharf’ Oper- ' ating got under way.-. Shortly after at her • members of the Unit : who had been on a course ! in Trent ham arriv-odL j

ON the 25th of April Lieut, R. Gilmour was marched, in , and he took the Wharf Operating personnel under his care until the arrival of Ca-ptv E. Black er, OC of the Wharf Unit c

THE MOVE.

BY Sunday May the 16th. rumour had it that " we would be on

the move any mi nut but it was not until Tuesday afternoon at three o’clock that

word came through to entrain that night at 9 O’clock. Quartermaster Sutherland st wonders how he got through the afternoon ■Rut the "train, was mad’ And by XX o’clock on the Wednesday morning all were aboard the. ship. The day was

spent in changing money, working out the dollar currency, and in being introduced to the ” chow line ”. As the ship pulled out on the

Thursday morning at 6.45. A .M. ,Sgt 0 Aim looked across at Stanley Bay and sa id:

’ ! There goes my end leafre Ray Be-rn* aby, Johnny Mason

and Norm James acted as guides to most of the party 03 board, describing the recced*' ing coastline which

they knewwell . c

THE ARRIVAL.

THE ship dropped anchor in Noumea on the 22nd at 3*40, but it was not until the following day morning at 9.40 that the party