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Pacific Service: the story of the new Zealand Army Service Corps Units with the Third Division in the Pacific

Chapter Two — Three Interludes

page 26

Chapter Two
Three Interludes

Back in New Zealand, the Third Division was reorganised and largely re-equipped during the second half of 1942. ASC units were greatly expanded, and the 1st Field Bakery and 1st Field Butchery were formed. Extensive training was undertaken, and two small ASC groups—the Bakery and a detachment with N Force—left the division temporarily for tours of duly overseas. In November and December the ASC units left New Zealand with the bulk of the division for a destination which Was at that time the subject of much speculation

I
Reorganisation in New Zealand

Back in New Zealand, July and August, 1942, were bitterly cold months which were keenly felt by the men who had just re turned from the tropical climate of Fiji. Most of those in the ASC units had heavy colds and were wearing plenty of winter clothing when they set up camps in the Papakura area, after a furlough of 15 days had slipped by quickly. At that time the situation in the South Pacific was critical. American forces made the first large scale offensive action on land against the Japanese on 7 August, when they landed on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands, and for the remainder of the year a bitter struggle was fought out on that large island and in the seas nearby, where at that time the US navy did not exercise undisputed sway. Meanwhile the 3rd Division was rapidly built up towards full strength in New Zealand by Major- General H. E. Barrowclough, CB, DSO, MC, the new GOC, who replaced General Mead, lost in an aircraft at sea near Tonga in July.

The first stage of the divisional reorganisation saw a great inflow of ASC reinforcements from territorial ASC units. New war establishments were issued, and a composite company, for example, was expanded from a strength of 111 men to 423 men, and then in-page 27cluded a workshops section for the repair of vehicles. The 4th Composite Company was at Papakura Mobilisation Camp, the Reserve MT Section became the 10th Reserve MT company and was stationed at Manurewa, where Headquarters Divisional ASC had also set up, in Orford's Camp. The trying experience of about 150 men, base supply personnel and members of the 16th Composite Company, who assembled at a temporary camp at Opaheke East, was typical of that period. Drafts from 12 separate territorial units arrived suddenly and swelled their number to 600; bell tents were erected to take the rush, but as the weather was unpleasant and camp administration difficult because of the absence of most senior NCOs on a course, conditions were far from happy for a while. New officers were marched in after the men, and there were at first only four officers to attend to the 600. Two thirds of the men were without proper equipment and all were generally 'browned off' at the way in which they had been marched out of their territorial units. Residents of Opaheke and Drury, who realised the unfavorable circumstances in which the men were living, did what they could to entertain them, and there are happy memories of the barn dance and Drury dances which were specially arranged for men at the camp. At the end of August the base supply depot was brought up to its revised establishment and two new ASC units were formed out of these men in Opaheke Camp—the 1st Field Bakery and the 1st Field Butchery.

At a later stage equipment followed the personnel, though much did not come to hand until the very last minute. Those who knew the shortage of men and equipment which had always been present in Fiji could hardly believe their eyes when they saw the abundance of both which the reorganisation produced. The old hands felt that their work was appreciated at last when the corps was put on a proper basis and they were given adequate facilities. Experienced drivers who were allotted brand new American trucks and jeeps were so encouraged that they took a real interest in their training, even though they had to start at the beginning all over again.

When the division moved down to the Waikato at the beginning of October, opportunity was taken to make the transfer a training exercise, and the infantry marched, in some cases as far as 100 miles, setting up bivouacs each night. It was the ASC's responsibility to supply the marching columns with rations, mails and other services page 28during the week that they were on the move. For that short period in New Zealand the ASC had some universal (Bren) carriers as part of its establishment of vehicles, and those were driven down during the change over. Men allotted to the tracked vehicles took a great pride in them, and carrier training was popular. When one ASC company arrived at the Waikato town at which it was to be camped, its convoy of carriers entered in fine style with pennants flying, and created a great stir among the townsfolk. Headquarters Divisional ASG was established at Claudelands, the 4th Composite Company at Leamington, the 10th Reserve MT Company at Te Rapa and the 16th Composite Company at Morrinsville. Base supply depots carried on their normal functions at Cambridge, Morrinsville and Hamilton.

At the time of the move two groups of ASC men separated from the main body and were away several months before they rejoined the division overseas. A detachment from Papakura embarked on the 'Wahine with the 36th Battalion and other troops of N Force, and on 7 October sailed for Norfolk Island. Also, the 1st Field Bakery, some base supply depot personnel, and the 1st Field Butchery transferred down to Trentham, where for several weeks they under went courses of instruction in their special duties. The bakery, though ultimately it was to provide bread for the whole division, had few experienced bakers on its strength, but it set up its own camp at the back of the Allen Range and during a month when it supplied bread to the large mobilisation camp there was great keenness in the unit, and much progress was made. The butchery had been formed so that if possible cattle could be slaughtered and fresh meat supplied to the force, and while at Trentham members of that small unit were on duty at meat works where they obtained experience of killing and the dressing of carcases. At short notice the bakery and the base supply depot men embarked without final leave on the USS Maui and cleared Wellington Heads on 5 November with their immediate future a mystery—the bakery eventually reached the New Hebrides. The butchery sailed in due course with the division.

Meanwhile, during the stay of the bulk of the ASC in the Waikato, a rigorous training schedule was followed which soon made it apparent that the division would probably enter active operations against the Japanese in the Pacific before long, especially when some page 29attention was paid to such matters as jungle fighting and the pre vention of malaria. The 4th and 16th Composite Companies supplied food, petrol and lubricants to all units of the division throughout the period in New Zealand, as part of their training—each night petrol points were set up at different places, and units called there to collect requirements. That training, together with work in connection with the reorganisation of the units, meant that there was not as much free time as some would have liked. Much kindness was received from the people of the district. Some sports and social clubs made personnel of entire units honorary members for the duration of their stay, special entertainments were organised and many private homes opened their hospitable doors to the men.

Manoeuvres which passed into popular legend as 'the Battle of the Kaimais' were carried out from 21 to 27 October, and provided a yardstick for the ASC by which the toughness of all subsequent situations could be judged. There was hardly an occasion when those who had been on the exercise would admit that later conditions were as bad, and complaints in the islands about mud, rain or rations would always draw from veterans reminiscences with openings such as: "But you should have been in the Kaimais! Why, when we were up there …' The virgin bush of the Kaimai Ranges between Matamata and Tauranga was chosen for the exercises because it reproduced as nearly as possible conditions which were likely to be met with later, in the Pacific. The ranges resembled on a small scale the Owen Stanley Range in New Guinea, over which severe fighting between the Japanese and Australians was then taking place, and to add realism fictitious names from that campaign were used. The 14th Brigade was ordered to take up and hold for a period a defensive position astride a mountain track (the Kokoda Trail) from Tauranga (Buna) to Matamata (Port Moresby), and the 8th Brigade was deemed to be a Japanese force attacking over the range from Tauranga.

The two composite companies which were attached to the brigades had contrasting duties to perform. The 4th Composite Company was to supply a force pushing forward and endeavouring to penetrate a defended area, while the 16th Composite Company was to transport up to the defending force on top of the range sufficient rations to last the brigade for the duration of the exercises. Each unit acquitted itself well and earned praise from high ranking officers. page 30Tracks in the ranges were overgrown, and after they had blazed trails the engineers laid rough roads as far as they could, and then cut rough trails in the thick bush, where the grade was sometimes one in two and men ahead were invisible in the tangled growth after they had climbed a few yards up the winding path. Battledress was worn, and one blanket, hard rations and great coats were carried. The first two days were fine, and some of the sweltering ASC men stripped to the waist, but on the afternoon of the third day heavy rain began to fall and continued for much of the remainder of the manoeuvres, quickly making everyone muddy and bedraggled.

The 4th Composite Company had the less spectacular task, particularly as the 8th Brigade did not achieve extensive penetration of the defence line. Some great work was done in supplying the forward elements, and one driver from the company was particularly complimented on his determination in pushing forward with his truck under great difficulties. On the Matamata side the ASC's transport was well tested when the huge bulk of rations was hauled up to the bush line over a newly made track. The going proved too soft for light trucks, which accordingly turned off the road and moved up over the fern covered slopes, but eventually had to be towed by bulldozers. Bren carriers were then driven over the rough country with zest and made lighter work of the job until the ground became too wet even for them, and recourse had to be made to jeeps. These little vehicles made a great impression on that first appearance with the force, as they jumped over boulders, ploughed through deep mud and sur' mounted grades which had looked unclimbable. Above the bush line 250 16th Composite Company men formed a human chain which at first was able to pass the 68lb. cases of bully beef and biscuits half way up to the top of a stepped track in one handling. However, when the wet weather set in, the steps melted away and the whole track became a channel of mud, so the chain closed until the men stood shoulder to shoulder, sometimes knee deep in slush, in order to pass up the heavy cases. Many of the commodities were not suitably packed for use as field rations, and in those appalling conditions such packages as chests of tea were manhandled to the top of the range, to the amazement of American officers who were observers. In all, about 251b of rations were heaved up that track for every man in the hills on that side, before haulage was abandoned as no page 31longer necessary. At the top dump there was a chaotic scene as carrying parties came in from units to collect their ration issues, but an imperturbable supply clerk sat in the centre of the bustle in pouring rain, making out packing lists and getting signatures. Fresh bread which was taken up proved a great booster of morale.

Each side used RNZAF aircraft, and any exposed concentrations of troops were likely to have bombs of flour or paint dropped on them. However, always at the back of everyone's mind was the knowledge that it was only a practice, and towards the end the planes found that the weary figures in the bush just wouldn't play, as by that time they 'didn't care whether the cow calved or not'. At night they were sleeping in their clothes, wrapped in blanket and great coat, in dripping bivouacs of fern and nikau leaves, while mist hung low over the bush and dirty rivulets of water ran every where. The ASC was called on for a variety of work—prisoners were taken (whose one idea was to get a meal), and blankets were supplied for them; experiments were conducted with the dropping of ration canisters from the air; and on the last nights some 16th Composite Company volunteers, who may not have been entirely disinterested, climbed out of their bivouacs and shouldered cumbersome stone jars of rum up to the infantry positions—the trip which took 35 minutes going down lasted four hours climbing back. Possibly the most celebrated ASG anecdote about the Kaimais arose at a supply dump right up in the range, where an harassed subaltern was trying to keep track of battered cases of rations for which he knew he would eventually have to compile a supply account. In a famous phrase he decided to 'have an accounting', and had just started to take stock when a voice over the telephone (which was laid on to the enemy from that point for the convenience of the umpires) informed him with amusement: In a few minutes we're coming over to capture you and the dump! The startled ASC officer yelled back: Hey, you can't do that! We're having an accounting today—come tomorrow!

All unconsumed rations had been withdrawn from the hills by the time the exercise finished after an exhausting week. It was considered that the manoeuvre was more difficult than any before attempted on such a scale in New Zealand, and that it had been as tough as anything likely to be encountered later, even though the climate had not been as tiring as that of the tropics. Though much page 32of it was not spectacular, it involved lots of hard slogging, and as it transpired, in those respects it set the pattern for most of the division's subsequent operations. As the troops came out of the hills, in a gesture which was greatly appreciated, the people of some of the Waikato towns rallied round and took men into their homes so that they could have hot baths, wash their cloths and have a sleep in comfort before they went back to camp. There were not enough soldiers to go round all the homes that offered hospitality.

Events then marched quickly. At the end of October most personnel had 10 days' final leave, and on return to camp the first half of November was a busy period when equipment continued to pour into units and various administrative matters received attention; those who required them received the unpopular vaccinations and a further instalment of 'jabs' (injections). At that stage the kiwi was adopted as the divisional sign, unit serial numbers were allotted and the ASC vehicles had those distinguishing marks painted on them, together with the corps colours—for that purpose a square divided once diagonally into green and red triangles. Ail new members of the division were posted 'on active service' as from 1 November, and it was earnestly pointed out to them how much more heinous under military law various offences had thus become. All those indications pointed in one direction, so that the general feeling was that it wouldn't be long now. ASC units put up a great show when they had a farewell parade through the main streets of Cambridge and Morrinsville, and when the time did come for the troops to leave, residents of the Waikato towns gave them an exuberant send off and turned up in their hundreds at the railway stations to see them go.

The first ASC men to embark, without final leave, were some base supply depot personnel and small advance parties from the 4th and 16th Composite Companies. They had been withdrawn from their units at the height of the Kaimai manoeuvres and left from Wellington early in November with the bakery on the Maui. On 6 November the CRASC was one of the senior staff officers-who accompanied the general when he flew from Auckland to the division's new destination on the flying boat Aotearoa. The bulk of the 16th Composite Company made up nearly half of a draft which departed from Wellington on 22 November on board the Dutch ship Brastagi.

page 33

The balance of the division remained training in the Waikato for some time after-that, subject to a flush crop of rumours, and very restive at the thought of hanging round in camp when the Christmas holiday season arrived. However, events were moving by 27 December when most of the remainder of the ASC embarked among 7,000 troops on the huge US troopship West Point at Auckland. The ship remained at the wharf for two further days while relatives and friends crowded at the barriers or travelled to and fro on the ferries which passed alongside (to the tune Td like to ride a ferry' from the band on the ship). Hung along one ferry was a huge banner with the message 'Good-bye Joe! Good luck!'; one of the thousands of men on deck improved on the system of signalling to those ashore with a handkerchief by giving a blast now and then on some musical instrument; and an ASC NCO who was on the ship's orderly room staff was inundated with messages, hot pies and hamburgers which were handed in by people at the wharf gates with directions scribbled on paper, such as: 'For Bill Jones—he's on board somewhere'. The big ship, which had 10 decks, required 600 men on general and cookhouse fatigues at a time, and whole battalions were placed on picket. The short voyage on the West Point was a memorable one—not a soul could understand the American instructions over the loud speakers, while mysterious bugles seemed to be blowing every five minutes. There was a near panic when a rumour spread that the ship was on fire, and boat drills took place amid confusion of a high order. The coasts of New Zealand were watched with mixed feelings as they slipped down over the horizon, and those on board wondered thoughtfully what the future held for them before they would see home again.

II
Norfolk Island

On 9 October, 1942, the Wahine arrived off the coast of Norfolk Island with N Force troops on board, including the ASG detachment previously mentioned, and the passengers studied with interest that small place of land rising so abruptly from the sea. At that time the Japanese in the Solomon Islands and New Guinea strongly menaced the lines of communication of the allies from Australia and New Zealand to the United States, and it was vital that these be page 34kept open. Norfolk Island is a lonely speck on the map, five miles by four, which suddenly became of strategic importance because of its location 600 miles north-west of Auckland and 800 miles east of Australia. This Commonwealth territory discovered by Cook in 1774, was a convict settlement from 1788 until a hundred years ago, and still numbers among its small population descendants of Bounty mutineers who transferred there from Pitcairn with some Tahitians in 1856. The island has a temperate climate, and grassy country dotted with the distinctive Norfolk Island pines rises from the high, irregular coastline to a height of 1,000 feet in the middle.

The day the ASC detachment with N Force arrived at the island there was a lurching sea, as is often the case, and the passengers let themselves down rope cargo nets which had been slung over the side of the ship, and dropped into whaleboats which rose and fell alarmingly. The islanders who manned the boats were practised seamen, and they ran boatloads of men and small cases of landing rations in through the narrow reef entrance on combing waves up to the broken down stone jetty, built at Kingston by convicts in the old days.

N Force was a battalion group of about 1,500 men, comprising the 36th Battalion with engineers and other ancillary troops added, and the ASC detachment's task was to handle the supply work. Although the waipori with stores, equipment and supplies had arrived a few days before, unfavourable weather had prevented unloading and most of those who landed from the 'Wahine had to sleep in the open and improvise shelters out of groundsheets, rusty corrugated iron or anything else available. Owing to the way in which the cargo was stored in the Waipori, the 12 days' reserve of bully beef, army biscuits, jam and tea left by the Wahine was almost exhausted before further supplies came ashore in any quantity, and then they consisted of more bully and biscuits. In order to relieve the monotony of that diet the ASC bakers used the oven of a local tradesman to turn out a batch of bread with ingredients borrowed from the scanty local stocks.

There is no harbour at Norfolk Island and unloading was normally slow and often hazardous. There is almost always a heavy swell running on to the island, and it depended on the direction of the wind whether ships were unloaded at Kingston on the south coast or Cascade on the north coast. Even though the weather was fine, rapid changes in wind would often make the landing places unworkable in turn.

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The American ship San Antonia, 20,000 tons, which was berthed with great difficulty at Lautoka in 1942. Personnel of the 4th MT company below, Watching a Fijian meke in the village of Vuthi

The American ship San Antonia, 20,000 tons, which was berthed with great difficulty at Lautoka in 1942. Personnel of the 4th MT company below, Watching a Fijian meke in the village of Vuthi

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Men of the 16th MT company chaining rations up the boggy slope of the Kaimai Ranges during the Division's jungle operations before leaving for New Caledonia. Below: Another view of the men at a ration dump in the bush, Heavy rain fell during the operations

Men of the 16th MT company chaining rations up the boggy slope of the Kaimai Ranges during the Division's jungle operations before leaving for New Caledonia.
Below: Another view of the men at a ration dump in the bush, Heavy rain fell during the operations

page 35When the unloading point changed, surf boats, launches and other equipment had to be carted overland on trucks, and as the change over took several hours, very often a shift in the wind would necessitate another switch after only an hour or two of discharging. Whaleboats usually cleared the little Ronaki of her 220 tons of cargo in three days, but on one occasion the ship Karsik, with 1,500 tons aboard, lay off the island for 23 days before it was completely unloaded. It was fortunate that cranes, barges, trucks and other equipment were always willingly lent by the civil construction unit of the Australian Department of Main Roads, which was building an aerodrome on Norfolk Island, as it is difficult to imagine how heavy stores could have been put ashore otherwise.

Since dry storage space was very limited, supplies were scattered in a couple of small halls, a boatshed and the ground floor of an old two-storey stone building in Kingston. History repeated itself in the case of that building, as it had been erected as a storehouse for the Commissariat Corps when imperial troops had garrisoned the island in convict days. It was a month before there was a sufficient variety of supplies ashore to issue a complete ration, and by 8 November, Aldershot ovens had also been landed and set up with bricks borrowed from the local Administrator, so that bread was on regular issue. At first hardly any fruit or vegetables could be purchased, as there was only sufficient to satisfy the needs of the local inhabitants—in fact, in almost every respect the force had to be self sufficient. Crops of vegetables were planted and tended by the ASC, particularly in Watermill Valley, where a stream was available for irrigation, and as the venture was a success, at a later stage troops were able to welcome issues of fresh vegetables. So many kumaras were produced, however, that the vegetable lost most of its friends among the garrison.

In order that the island's small herd of cattle should not be exhausted the Administrator forbade killings for the New Zealanders, though the rule was occasionally relaxed in respect of a beast or two. The arrival of the Christmas dinner for N Force was a dramatic event when on 25 December, two RNZAF Hudsons appeared over the partly finished airfield to drop lamb, shelled peas and new potatoes by parachute. As some of the parachutes from the first plane failed to open, the field was quickly strewn with vege' tables, so the second plane circled several times and then made the page 36first successful landing on Norfolk Island, amid enthusiasm. New Year's Day also saw a strange sight when the Karitane brought 300 live sheep from New Zealand. With the drowning of only one animal they were unloaded on to a flat topped barge on which pens had been built. There were no sheep dogs, so there was a great deal of shouting and running before the flock was guided from the jetty to a large pasture which had been rented. From that date killings of 30 were made twice a week in a small slaughter house which was erected. Units collected all their ration issues from the ASC detachment, which was essentially a supply section, and it was fortunate that the corps was not greatly concerned with transport, as the island had no metal suitable for the construction of all weather roads. When it was dry, trucks scattered fine, red clay dust everywhere, but a small amount of rain was sufficient to turn the road surfaces into quagmires.

The members of the ASC detachment were hospitably received by the residents of Norfolk Island, who lead a simple life, and the kindness of these easy-going folk is a pleasant memory to them. The conversation of the islanders, full of English dialect and Tahitian turns of speech, was a reminder of their strange history, and when ASC men in after days were heard to exchange greetings such as: 'What-away you?' 'I' m cushoo', they were singled out as members of the small detachment which had been with N Force. By March, 1943, the situation in the north was much improved, and the 3rd Division troops were relieved by a territorial unit from New Zealand. The main body sailed north to rejoin the division on 7 April, 1943.

III
The Bakery in the New Hebrides

It has already been recorded that when the 1st Field Bakery cleared Wellington Heads on 5 November, 1942, its immediate future was a mystery. The bakers disembarked in high spirits on 12 November at Nouméa, New Caledonia—a small band of New Zealanders in a multitude of friendly and curious Americans. The unit was instructed to assist US bakers at the Velodrome, but there had been no time to settle down when word came that New Caledonia was not the final destination, and on 13 November, the bakery em-page 37barked again, that time on the Dutch ship Boschfontein, for the island of Espiritu Santo in the New Hebrides Group. The large troopship USS President Coolidge had recently been sunk there in a minefield, and it was said that a US bakery which had been on its way out from the United States had lost all its equipment in the disaster. The 1st Field Bakery suffered an initial handicap, as part only of the unit equipment had come ashore in Nouméa, and the balance could not be collected before sailing again. At that time the part of the South Pacific through which the ship then travelled was by no means secure, and a strict look out was kept constantly. A call was made at Port Vila, on the island of Efate, New Hebrides, and then there was a long wait in the Segond Channel at Espiritu Santo, so that all told the unit spent 15 days on the Boschfontein, though the distance covered in her was only 500 miles.

Camp was set up in the Surrunda Bay area on the island of Espiritu Santo. The island's present name is part of an elaborate Spanish one given by Quiros as long ago as 1606. The bakery's camp site was a grassed one in a palm grove, but the pleasant setting was spoilt by the proximity of a horse corral, a ration dump and native living quarters. The bay was fouled with the garbage which was dumped into it and later washed up on the foreshore, and the fly nuisance was very bad. There was a fresh water pool about a mile and a half from the camp where it was possible to swim, but despite plenty of heavy rain there was no water on the island suit' able for drinking or baking, and reliance had to be placed on distilled water. Four days after landing the first small batch of bread was baked. There were no burners at that stage, and the oven had to be fired with wood cut from the bush and splashed with diesel oil. The wood was too green to make satisfactory fuel, and the gathering took up a lot of time. Parties of native labour were supposed to supply the firewood, but the natives rarely appeared, and nothing much could be done about that matter. The climate was very depressing—the lowest temperature recorded during the stay was 81 degrees Fahrenheit one cool night—and during the day the ovens made the bakehouse almost unbearably hot, so that several men collapsed at work.

RNZAF units on Santos provided the isolated New Zealanders with medical calls and other services which were helpful. The bakery was supplying the large number of Americans stationed on the page 38island, and in nearly all respects it was dependent on US forces. All the difficulties of a small unit widely separated from its parent organisation were experienced—supplies were hard to get, lack of transport was a handicap most of the time and canteen stores, patriotic goods and other articles forwarded to the unit frequently went astray. However, as a result of the fact that bread was supplied to personnel of the adjacent US ration dump, the unit was probably fed better than at any other time during its period overseas.

The bakery stayed in the New Hebrides nearly five months, and during that time it had both white and coloured American service-men seconded to it for duty. Unit members were slowly depleted after men began to be evacuated because of sickness—dysentery was widespread, and tropical sores, jaundice and malaria all took their toll. At times there were insufficient hands to keep up production to the desired figure of 5,000 lb of bread each day. Nevertheless, a great team spirit was developed during that period when the bakery was on its own, and again considerable technical knowledge was gained by the men. All bread was hand-made, and each man went right through the processes from the making of dough to baking of bread. The officer commanding considered that when the unit returned to the division every member was at least as far advanced in the art of bread making as the average three years' apprentice in New Zealand. Among the units of the ASC, and indeed of the whole force, the 1st Field Bakery was always conspicuous for its esprit de corps.

The large island of Espiritu Santo, which still has in its interior primitive people who have hardly ever seen a white man, was the site of an immense air and naval advanced base which had been set up at short notice as a springboard for the Solomon Islands offensive —it remained the nearest concentration point to the fighting then still at its height on Guadalcanal. Warships of all types were seen, some of which had limped back in damaged condition. Casualties and survivors from the Coral Sea battles were landed there, and there was great activity in connection with the large aerodrome at Pallikulo Bay, about two miles from the camp. While the bakery was on the island there were five bombing raids and one submarine shelling in the vicinity. The raids occurred on moonlit nights, and the bakers acquired the habit of using the good fox-holes which they had built. The 1st Field Bakery was thus able to claim that it was the first part of the division to experience enemy action as a unit, page 39and those incidents from 'the Santos campaign' remained final and unanswerable whenever bakery members became involved thereafter in the friendly abuse of an inter-unit argument.

Baking continued almost until the date of embarkation, 19 March, 1943, when the unit hurriedly packed aboard the Talamanca and left Espiritu Santo on its way to rejoin the main body of the division.

'Now, now, "shirts on" time is not for another two minutes'

'Now, now, "shirts on" time is not for another two minutes'

HQ DIV ASC: 'You may rest assured that they'll unload the cases and not interfere with the contents'

HQ DIV ASC: 'You may rest assured that they'll unload the cases and not interfere with the contents'