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Shovel Sword and Scalpel: A record of service of medical units of the second New Zealand expeditionary force in the Pacific

II — New Zealand

II
New Zealand

On our return from leave we heard that the division was to he re-equipped and would eventually return to the Pacific to a more active role. Our unit was to be brought up to the strength of a full field ambulance. Reinforcements were marched in, and with them came our new commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel W. F. Shirer, NZMC. We did not remain long in Papakura, but shifted to Pukekohe, where we established our own camp once more. 'There reinforcements continued to arrive, and we began to receive much needed equipment. Training proceeded apace, and many route marches familiarised personnel with the Pukekohe countryside. Lieutenant P. J. Betteridge was transferred to us from the Namaka Hospital and assumed the position of quartermaster, while Lieutenant L. N. Hudson, previously adjutant and quartermaster, retained the single appointment of adjutant.

Early in October it was decreed that the division should move to the Waikato to enable camp sites around Auckland to be made available for American troops, whose arrival in New Zealand was expected. The divisional move was to be undertaken by-brigades on foot—three days' marching of about 25 miles a day. The 14th Brigade Headquarters was to be located at Te Aroha, and our unit at Te Aroha West. An advanced party, under Lieutenant D. G. Simpson, took over the new camp area, and, on 6 October, 1942, the march commenced. We bivouacked at Manga-tawhiri the first night, at Mangatarata the second, at Tahuna the third, and on the fourth day we were taken by trucks to Te Aroha.

A period of intensive training followed the establishment of the camp at Te Aroha. Long route marches over interesting country helped in the general toughening process. No one who page 65took part is likely to forget the marathon of 28 miles over Thompson's track, over the Kaimais, and through Kati Kati— certainly not the padre nor the adjutant, who, to their sorrow, gave the unit an hour's start. Besides route marching and routine military training of the' one-stop-two "variety, swimming classes were instituted, and river crossings practised—the latter with 'incidents' aplenty. A number of nursing orderlies were attached to the Auckland Public Hospital to undergo specialised training" in theatre work and nursing technique. During the period in Te Aroha a small MDS was established to hold and treat non-serious cases occurring in the brigade. It was at Te Aroha, too, that Captain Ross Lane, one of the original officers of the unit, was transferred from us, and somehow the unit never seemed quite the same without him.

On 21 October, 1942, we began divisional manoeuvres in the Kaimai Ranges. Our A and B companies proceeded with the battalions to form an ADS in the 14th Brigade forward defence area. Jeep transport was used as far as the bush level, after which all equipment had to be man-handled. Atrocious weather conditions, while adding to the discomfort, greatly enhanced the value of the exercise from a practical point of view. An MDS was established by headquarters company at Matamata to treat and evacuate casualties real and imaginary. Later this was shifted to the area formerly occupied by A and B companies by the perspiring and disgruntled members of headquarters, who had visualised a comfortable 'war' in the comparative luxury of Matamata. An improvised operating theatre was erected and medical attention in the advanced brigade area was carried out by the MDS. Most vivid memories of the Kaimais are probably those associated with the rum issue, which arrived at the end of the seven-day ordeal. Many lessons were learned regarding rations, equipment, packing and stretcher bearing in the bush, but perhaps the most important lesson of all was the fact that it was found possible to spend a week in the bush, to be wet most of the time, to live on tinned rations, to undergo extreme physical exertion, and yet to suffer no ill effects.

At the conclusion of the exercise, during which period the quartermaster's staff had remained in Te Aroha to repack unit equipment, preliminary instructions were received regarding the impending move overseas. Major Thodey, who since the arrival of Lieutenant-Colonel Shirer had acted as second-in-command, page 66left us to go to divisional headquarters. His wise handling of the unit in its early and most difficult days set sure foundations for its later development. Major K. Rees Thomas came to us in his place, and Lieutenant R. P. Tuckey was also marched in. An advanced party of four, under Lieutenant Simpson, left New Zealand shores, and the remainder of the unit was sent out on final leave. Upon return to camp and after a short waiting period headquarters and A companies entrained for the port of •embarkation. B company, under command of Captain R. G. S. Ferguson, remained to proceed in a later flight with the remainder of the 14th Brigade.

On the afternoon of Thursday, 3 December, 1942, 22nd NZ Field Ambulance commenced its second tour of overseas duty when the troopship President Munroe pulled away from Wellington's Pipitea Wharf. The trip was marred by bad messing arrangements, but this was forgotten at the sight of almost a hundred ships of war, including three aircraft carriers, in Noumea Harbour. Further indications of the proximity of war were the barrage balloons moored over Noumea itself. On 8 December we disembarked in French barges flying the Croix de Lorraine and proceeded to a transit camp at Dumbea.