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

Foreword

page 139

Foreword

I deem it a privilege to have been associated from February 1942 to May 1944 with the Ordnance Corps which formed part of New Zealand's Expeditionary Force in the Pacific, and I greatly appreciate having been asked to write a brief foreword to this unofficial history.

Called upon to supply all stores other than food and fuel, and to carry out all maintenance and repair work to vehicles and all warlike stores for the force, the Ordnance Corps comprised mainly officers and men technically trained in an exceptionally wide variety of technical and skilled occupations. The nature of the operations of the force entailed dividing and spreading our personnel, stores, and our repair and maintenance services over widely separated islands, and this involved much improvising and ingenuity on the part of all concerned. That the task was done as well as it was, was due to the high calibre of all ranks and to the excellence of their peace-time trade and specialist training and to the manner in which all difficulties were tackled and overcome.

Now that the Third Division no longer exists, and particularly now that the war is over, the record to which this is a foreword becomes history in the full meaning of that word, and I am sure it will greatly interest all ordnance personnel. I wish all concerned full enjoyment of that peace, security and way of life for which each member of the corps in his own sphere served so well.

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