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The Tanks: An Unofficial History of the Activities of the Third New Zealand Division Tank Squadron in the Pacific

I. Condition Red

page 208

I. Condition Red

When the time came for the division's moves into action in Japanese held islands in the Solomons, representative ordnance units acted as the shock troops of supply and maintenance, and proceeded to forward areas with the fighting troops. At Vella Lavella the corps was organised as follows: A DADOS detachment under Lieutenant-Colonel Myers; Captain Sandelin, ordnance mechanical engineer; Warrant-Officer Walkley, 14th Brigade ordance supply officer; a forward ordnance depot detachment (including an ammunition section) under Lieutenants Lonergan and Buckley; the 20th and 37th Light Aid Detachments under Lieutenants Keenan and Calder respectively; a small detachment of the 29th Light Anti-aircraft workshops; and the No. 2 recovery section with armament section attached under Lieutenants Holebrook and Gable. Attached to infantry battalions, brigade headquarters and other units were armourers of the ordnance corps, who took care of first line weapon casualties.

During the assault on the Treasury Group the following were the representatives of the ordnance corps: Captain Tilley, ordnance mechanical engineer; Warrant-Officer Bristow, 8th Brigade ordnance supply officer, with a small detachment from the advanced ordnance depot; 64th Light Aid Detachment under Lieutenant Buckley; No. 1 recovery section with Lieutenant Beauchamp, and an armament section commanded by Captain Costelloe; and, lastly, a detachment of the 29th Light Anti-page break
Major H. McK. Reid, assistant to DADOS, who served for a long period with the division Major J. W. Evers, senior ordnance mechanical engineer. He was a specialist in armaments Captain H. N. McCarthy, who was chief ordnance officer, forward area

Major H. McK. Reid, assistant to DADOS, who served for a long period with the division
Major J. W. Evers, senior ordnance mechanical engineer. He was a specialist in armaments
Captain H. N. McCarthy, who was chief ordnance officer, forward area

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Lieutenant G. R. Gable, MBE, right, with Captain W. M. Rowell when they were both warrant officers in Fiji

Lieutenant G. R. Gable, MBE, right, with Captain W. M. Rowell when they were both warrant officers in Fiji

Armour-Sergeant W. J. Pearson, who was killed in action on Mono Island. Mentioned in dispatches

Armour-Sergeant W. J. Pearson, who was killed in action on Mono Island. Mentioned in dispatches

Warrant-Officer J. Roughan who was mentioned in despatches for his services

Warrant-Officer J. Roughan who was mentioned in despatches for his services

Sergeant R. J. Keeble, who was accidentally killed on 8 Nov. 1943

Sergeant R. J. Keeble, who was accidentally killed on 8 Nov. 1943

page 209aircraft
workshops under Lieutenant H. Hayman. Early in December, due to retirements under age groups, and also to new appointments in the senior ordnance mechanical engineers' branches, many ordnance mechanical units were reorganised under new commanders as follows:—Ordnance mechanical engineers, 8th and 14th Brigades, Captains Keenan and Calder; 20th, 37th, 64th and 65th Light Aid Detachments were now commanded by Second-Lieutenants C. P. A. Burt, G. A. P. Skinner, J. D. Keeling and J. R. Buckley.

The ordnance detachment, during the attack on Nissan Island, comprised five officers and 103 other ranks who were subsequently formed into a forward maintenance group known as 'Square Peg' workshops (taken from the code name of the operation). The units on Nissan were the 20th and 65th Light Aid Detachments under Second-Lieutenants G. C. Sherson and C. D. McRae, a detachment of the 29th Light Anti-aircraft workshops with Warrant-Officer Ivan Vause; a tank workshops section commanded by Second-Lieutenant J. E. Amoore, and the No. 2 recovery section with armament section attached under Lieutenants Holebrook and Gable. The remainder of the tank workshops continued to operate under Lieutenant G. S. Collins near Lunga, at Guadalcanal. The 14th Brigade and artillery ordnance supply officers for the Nissan force were Warrant-Officers Walkley and Smith. Lieutenant R. H. Clark, as radio maintenance officer, and Sergeant J, E. Warren, radio mechanic, formed the radar maintenance section which joined the corps at Nissan, after coming from New Zealand.

As the Third Division became part of the island front, at a critical time when American forces were being built up for further strikes against enemy strongholds in the northern Solomons, the importance of its role of keeping the Japanese 'on the run' by dislodging them from the central Solomons, became clearer to the troops with each new move. At Guadalcanal the men gained their first conception of the desperate need for more room in which to assemble both troops and the vast amount of allied equipment necessary for land, sea and air operations in the highly mobile and fluid nature of island warfare. On every level piece of land that could be found along the coast of Guadalcanal were acres of allied stores, fighting equipment, vehicles including tanks and amphibious 'ducks' parked wheel page 210to wheel, and enormous ammunition dumps. Before large allied forces which were to use this equipment could be deployed in Bougainville and farther north, it was evident that not only-had the Japanese to be prevented from consolidating in the central Solomons, but also that the islands there—even some of the smallest of them—and some farther to the north, were essential as sites for bomber strips and naval bases in support of future allied operations in the north. How speedily the islands of Vella Lavella, the Treasuries and Nissan were put to these uses, just as soon as the division had performed its part of wresting them from the enemy in grim jungle fighting, was all the proof the men needed to appreciate the importance of the actions in which the division was engaged; clearly, the gain to the allied plans for future attacks was immeasurably greater than the mere territorial acquisition of such little known but hard won island groups might indicate.

Many of those of the Ordnance Corps who proceeded to Vella Lavella.. the Treasuries and Nissan Island landed with the fighting echelons—often with the first wave assault troops—as part of brigades or with divisional headquarters troops. In this warfare with few fixed lines and against an enemy which employed infiltration tactics at night with a fanatic's greed for death, many ordnance units shared experiences of action with fighting units to which they were attached. It is doubtful whether any word picture will ever be written that can convey a full and true impression of the peculiar sensations and experiences of the men who saw service in jungle combat areas. These men were moving into battle country where one of their enemies was the jungle itself. Perhaps no conception of the invisible dangers of the jungle is possible without some mention of what these were. Here are a few recorded selections from the instructions all men received before taking part in the Solomons campaign: 'To stop germs, insects and fungi from killing or crippling you, you must learn to protect yourself from their unseen attacks. The wet, warm air of the tropics helps germs to multiply and survive. But the smart soldier can lick dangerous germs in spite of being splashed with mud, soaked with sweat, and soiled with plant juices. Every drop of water you put in your mouth must be boiled or chlorinated. Remember that even the smallest amount of dirty food can give you a debilitating disease such as page 211tropical dysentery, that eats out the linings of your intestines and makes you bleed internally. Keep flies and all other insects off your food and utensils. Don't eat with your hands. Peel all fruits and keep your fingers off the parts you put in your mouth. Wash your socks and clothes every day. Putting on wet clothes in the morning will not hurt you, but wearing dirty clothes will give you real trouble within a few days, Mosquitoes and malaria are your worst enemies. Jungle pests will make your life unbearable if you do not learn to defeat their surprise attacks, Hookworms are widespread tropical parasites. Ants and termites swarm on the ground and in certain trees. Scorpions and centipedes often crawl into shoes, socks, and clothing. Even sleeping in the jungle is an art.' Beneath each of the above remarks, in an instruction issued to all troops, was advice on the best way to combat the difficulty, and the information covered 17 printed pages. Every word of this advice proved grimly true. The bite of the centipede—a species about nine inches in length and half an inch in width—was not only poisonous, but also agonisingly painful. On Stirling Island, in the Treasury Group, ectoparasites, known as chiggers, caused mysterious weeping skin eruptions which spread right up the legs from the shins. Scores of men were infected, and the condition was traced to a microscopic insect, scarlet in colour, which came from the ground, burrowed into the skin and hatched its young, which then spread further. Although men tried, as a rule, to avoid contact between bare feet and the ground, some contracted hookworm, an infection which enters the blood-stream. Even the prediction about ants proved correct, and at Nissan a large brown species with a vicious bite appeared in huge colonies near the ordnance workshops camp. When disturbance of the ground revealed millions of these pests, tents had often to be moved. In several ordnance locations the temperatures that were noted are also interesting. At Guadalcanal 130 degrees was quite common, while at Stirling, in the Treasuries, a temperature of 145 degrees was registered for several days in succession during January 1944. The proofing of even the finest quality tarpaulins melted on the fabric, and could be collected by the spoonful from along the lower edges. Humidity must also have been extreme, as a heavy green and white hair-like fungus, with a 'staple' about an inch in length, grew on the inner canvases of tents, all along beneath the ridge- page 212poles and elsewhere, and contributed to the speedy rotting of all tentage. As men worked at their ordnance duties their clothes clung to them as if fresh from immersion in water—but the water was sweat wrung from bodies that lost up to SO and 60 pounds weight, leaving a feeling of perpetual weariness. Often this was followed by an unhealthy blood condition, so that every minor scratch turned septic. These living conditions were but the womb which gave birth to the new fears and pangs of battle.