3NZ Division in the South Pacific in World War II
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Copyright is owned by the Author of the thesis. Permission is given for a copy to be downloaded by an individual for the purpose of research and private study only. The thesis may not be reproduced elsewhere without the permission of the Author. New Zealand’s Forgotten Warriors: 3NZ Division in the South Pacific in World War II A thesis presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand. Reginald Hedley Newell 2008 The author, Reginald Hedley Newell, asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work. ii ABSTRACT This thesis examines the origins, deployment, operations and demise of 3NZ Division. It argues that the forces that became the Division were sent to Fiji because of a perceived strategic threat, particularly from airpower, if the islands were seized by the Japanese. The Division was relieved in Fiji by the Americans but returned to the Pacific in 1943 because New Zealand wanted to earn a place at the peace table and the Americans lacked troops in the theatre. Whether the Division was primarily an offensive or garrison unit remained unclear throughout its existence and influenced its constitution. Major General Harold Barrowclough, its commander from 1942 to 1944, had somewhat different strengths from his fellow divisional commander Major General Bernard Freyberg, and operated in a very different environment, with amphibious operations at brigade level. Furthermore, his division operated in an area dominated by the United States Navy rather than the more familiar culture of the British Army. More generally, the relationship between the New Zealanders and the Americans in the South Pacific was complex, generally symbiotic but occasionally unfriendly and even lethal. The perception in New Zealand that service in the South Pacific was less onerous than service in the Mediterranean ignores the often unpleasant and even deadly conditions faced by the soldiers of 3NZ Division. The Division’s combat operations contributed significantly to the neutralisation of the Japanese stronghold of Rabaul. Except for a brief period in 1942, 3NZ Division took second place in New Zealand’s war effort to 2NZ Division. This reflected Wellington’s general inclination to favour Commonwealth over local defence, and, despite some wavering, New Zealand declined to follow Australia and focus its efforts in the Pacific. Lack of manpower to field two divisions resulted in 3NZ Division having only two brigades and growing demands from the Air Force, industry and agriculture ultimately led to its disbandment. Thereafter it faded from the public consciousness and its contribution disregarded. The men and women of 3NZ Division have undeservedly become New Zealand's forgotten warriors. iii iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to dedicate this work to the one-eyed Vickers Machine Gunner who defended the Waimakariri River and the lady ambulance driver on the West Coast (my father and mother), and the men and women of 3NZ Division. I would like to thank Dr James Watson and Dr John Tonkin-Covell; my doctoral supervisors for their encouragement and advice; Mrs Kirsty Nolan and Mrs Veronica Godfrey for typing this thesis and enduring interminable alterations and revisions; the staff at Archives NZ; the staff at Alexander Turnbull Library; the staff at NZ Defence Force Base Records, Trentham; the staff at the NZ Defence Force Library; John Crawford of NZ Defence Force; Brian Hewson for generously providing copies of his American documents; Jeffrey Plowman; Mrs Joan Clouston for insight into her father Major General Barrowclough, access to his war diaries and encouragement; and all the veterans of 3NZ Division who patiently fielded questions about events so long ago and who clarified and encouraged; the American Seabees, submariners and sailors who did likewise; above all to my wife Heather and son Michael. Any errors are mine alone. Reg Newell Upper Hutt 31 March 2008 v vi TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER 1: FIJIAN GENESIS ........................................................................................... 13 CHAPTER 2: CONSTITUTION AND ROLE .............................................................. 41 CHAPTER 3: COMMAND AND CONTROL ..................................................................... 73 CHAPTER 4: COMBAT OPERATIONS ............................................................................. 105 CHAPTER 5: FIGHTING WITH THE YANKS ................................................................ 155 CHAPTER 6: DEATH OF A DIVISION ............................................................................ 193 CHAPTER 7: COCONUT BOMBERS, PINEAPPLE PICKERS AND BALI HAI ............. 221 CHAPTER 8: LEGACY ..................................................................................................... 253 CHAPTER 9: CONCLUSIONS ............................................................................................... 267 APPENDIX A: GLOSSARY .................................................................................................. 275 APPENDIX B: LEGION OF THE LOST ............................................................................. 303 APPENDIX C: TABLE OF ORGANISATION OF 3NZ DIVISION AT ITS APOGEE ..... 305 BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................................................... 307 vii viii LIST OF MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS MAPS The Solomon Islands xii The Pacific and Adjacent Theatres xiii Northern New Caledonia 67 Vella Lavella 113 Treasury Islands Assault 132 Green Island landings 145 ILLUSTRATIONS Painting by Russell Clark, Study of Soldier, Mono Island 1944. Archives NZ. xi Major General Barrowclough visits sick and wounded. Alexander Turnbull Library. 041530. 95 14 Brigade troops on Vella Lavella. Alexander Turnbull Library. WH-0237. 117 Mono Island aerial photograph, Archives NZ WAII1 Z151/1/22. 120 Captured Japanese artillery on Mono Island. Alexander Turnbull Library. WH-0295. 134 Face painting prior to the commando raid on the Green Islands. Alexander Turnbull Library. 140 Landing of tanks on The Green Islands. Alexander Turnbull Library. 044755. 148 Cartoon by Gordon Minhinnick, New Zealand Herald, 4 January 1944. 193 Painting by Russell Clark, Movies in the Rain, Archives NZ. 223 ix x PAINTING BY RUSSELL CLARK STUDY OF SOLDIER, MONO ISLAND - ARCHIVES NZ AAAC898NCWA153 898 xi THE SOLOMON ISLANDS, THIRD DIVISION HISTORIES COMMITTEE, PACIFIC SAGA, WELLINGTON: A.H. AND A.W. REED, 1948, INSIDE BACK COVER. xii THE PACIFIC AND ADJACENT THEATRES, LOUIS MORTON, US ARMY IN WWII, THE WAR IN THE PACIFIC, STRATEGY AND COMMAND; THE FIRST TWO YEARS, WASHINGTON: OFFICE OF MILITARY HISTORY, DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY, 1962, INSIDE BACK COVER. xiii xiv INTRODUCTION In May 1947 a somewhat plaintive letter was sent to the Prime Minister of New Zealand. The writer enquired Why the New Zealand Third Division was maintained in the Islands when it was plainly intimated by the Americans that we were not wanted and we ourselves could see that we were far more nuisance than we were worth. Opinion was divided amongst the troops as to the reason. Some said it was a part of Empire strategy and others thought it was New Zealand policy. I would be very grateful if you would tell me why the force was kept there for so long.1 A reply was prepared by the Permanent Head of the Prime Minister’s Department simply stating that this Force was provided for operations against the Japanese, in which it was engaged for a time, by arrangement with the United States Command in the Pacific. In view of the course of operations in the latter stages of the Pacific War, it was withdrawn first to New Caledonia and then to New Zealand to other employment. It was, of course, a matter of policy that New Zealand take a full part in the war in all theatres, and her participation in the Pacific in air, sea and land operations was an effective contribution to the victory in the Pacific Theatre.2 The interchange exemplifies a number of features of 3NZ Division’s war. These included a lack of clarity as to its role, doubt as to what it had accomplished, concern 1 A.K. Fagan to Prime Minister, 20 May 1947, Archives NZ EA 87/21/1. 2 Permanent Head of Prime Minister’s Department to A.K.Fagan, 28 June 1947, Archives NZ EA 87/21/1. 1 that the Americans had been dissatisfied with it, and questions of whose interests it had been serving. Certainly the Division’s achievements seem to have been consigned to oblivion with little modern public awareness of even the existence of the Division and its personnel. This is sadly ironic in view of the fame of 2NZ Division which served in the Mediterranean Theatre of Operations. This thesis will address the issues of how and why the Division came to be formed, how and why it was developed and deployed as it was, its relationship with the Americans, the impact Major General Barrowclough had on the Division, the conditions which the troops had to contend with, their combat operations, the reasons for its disbandment and its legacy and significance. An assessment will be made as to whether the Division did indeed make 'an effective contribution' to victory in the South Pacific. Given the scale of New Zealand's deployment of men and resources into the South Pacific in World War Two, the literature relating to it is surprisingly sparse. This is especially