FREDDIE BOYS AT WORK

Observation Post, Volume 1, Issue 22, 16 October 1942, Page 4

FREDDIE BOYS AT WORK

The Editor, ‘‘Observation Post,” I forward herewith a contribution to the ‘‘O.P. ” The author remains anonymous, but I suspect 'his identity. You may care to add the following note: — ■r.u.’s Note on the Shoot. I Weather perfect. I Method of —Gunfire. First shoot (Ross): Targets not even part-worn afterwards, as far as could be seen. First and second targets changed for safety reasons. Second shoot (Greenfield): Original target, one spectacular direct hit, sev eral near misses. Target turned upside down. Range 2500; .. ’ Third shoot (Laws): Target turned over twice, several more close shots. Range 2700. Fourth shoot (Thompson): Target now at 20.00, and showing a tendency to disappear if you didn’t watch out. Several near misses, and one . more drum broken loose from target. Part of the target was later rescued, in a sinking condition, and a battered oil drum now reposes at Troop H.Q.

Any resemblance to any living persons is purely intentional. The day of October 7th dawned bright and clear and at 6.30 a.m. al! was a bustle, for our long awaited shoot was coming off. Each trailer was loadi ed? with ammunition and the guns were soon- readw to be hooked in. Spud Brown and ‘‘Pussy” Parker were to.be numbers one, - which t; considerably rocked a certain Bombardier, who had harboured high hopes of being one himself. As the.shoot was scheduled to start at 10 a.m. we were ready at about 9.30, as is our usual habit, but evidently the Navy, being very fond of leave ui something of that nature, did not think about our target until after they’, hai. finished that delightful job of cleaning out the bunkers. The target was not .in place until 10.45 and • at : 11.15 we•' re-' ceived our first orders.

Our C.O. presented a . striking stud} of field methods ■ as' he lay on his sto mack with his binoculars glued to his eyes,- scanning the sea in his usual man ner. His “Right 30 deg.” technique •showed to great advantage. After six rounds gunfire from each gun, all of which fell in close proximity to the target, No. 2 gun received the order “Stop,” while No. 1 gun was given ‘‘three rounds battery fire,” which was slightly balled up by ‘‘Sloppy Joe,” the layer, but being a self conscious sort of chap 1 won’t go into that point any further. , We dashed back to T.H.Q. for lunch and at 1 p.m. 'were back at the gun position only to-find that the guns had to be moved to another position. After a lot of tough man-handling, we got the guns into their required positions, and at 2.30 p.m. Greenmeadows started his series. A slight error in his orders, brought this caustic remark from an onlooking Colonel ‘‘You can’t do that here laddie. ’’ Boy! was his face red.

Spud scored a direct hit during this series* all the other shots were danger ously close to the target. The next series conducted by I “Bruce,” was very good too, and both layers at one time or another during the seven shots had to report “Target obscured.”

The Duke of Kau Point took the last series' during which a mis-fire occurred and all the big noises from the district were utterly amazed when the gun crews and onlookers were not ordered to take cover. It appears that these chaps are a bit scared of mis-fires. Anyway after changing the striker and having another lash at it, the projectile condescended to leave the muzzle. We were congratulated upon the shooting and the gun drill by Colonel Andrews, so perhaps it was worth all the trouble. Our own impression of the shoot was quite favourable and although we have a lot of time for the 2nd Field, we are seriously thinking of spending our summer vacation ‘‘somewhere in Wellington.’’.. ‘‘Donkin,” the layer on ‘‘Spud’s’’ gun did a very creditable job and I think the rest of the gun crew have him to -thank for winning those cigarettes for them. Well, 2nd Field, see ' you in the Spring. ‘‘SLOPPY JOE.” ■