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Fiji's Army

Praise From Brigadier

J. G. C. Wales

WHEN Brigadier J. G. C Wales Mr arrived in New Zealand in Novem ber, after relinquishing the coS mand of the Fijian Military Forces, he paid warm tribute to the part the people of Fiji are playing in the Pacific war.

Brigadier Wales went to Fiji when the resident forces, organised as a defensive force, consisted of one battalion. When he left, the force had been reconstituted as an offensive formation, trained in amphibious operations and jungle war lMtSl ay ja a p n an^ iVe P&rt ta the fi6ld The Veld fnEi k nnnr Ki

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g native Fijians, with some resident wrVta“Sraf^ f t ? a ic a rnactcn f( l rce £ a artlllery formation which Fijians have eagerly enlisted, and there are also two labour battalions.

E? 6 !® Ara L b n asis and num “ SSSf J? thar l 2,0 ?° P strength. inese nave set such a standard of work ™ dmg i unloacbng ships that they a ff S . regarded -as being the fast est wharf workers in the Pacific.

The majority of the officers are New Zealanders, but there are a number of Fijian commissioned officers, so far, up to captain in rank.

In the field force there are two guerilla or commando formations As early as last December a section of one

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as scouts right up to the conclusion of the Guadalcanal campaign. Their native talents, among which silence, almost magical bushcraft, cheerful endurance keenness of sight and excellence at snap shooting, stand out prominently, were so successfully used that they killed a large number of Japanese and notably fulfilled all their assignments without loss to themselves.

In addition to the commando unit, a battalion of the brigade has been in the Solomons for some time, carrying out an essential, but so far only protective, duty.

The rest of the field force is anxiously awaiting the day when it can go into the forward areas.

Before he left the Colony, Brigadier Wales was fare welled by many friends and organisations with whom he had identified himself during his stay in Fiji.

His name will long be remembered by many people in Fiji and will always be connected with the happy association between the New Zealand and Fiji Mili tary Forces, Miss Catherine Elizabeth Colombus died suddenly at the Colonial Memorial Hospital, Suva, on October 26. aged 23 She was a nurse in training at the Child Welfare Department of Suva and a mem ber of the Indian Stri Sewa Sabha.

Sergeant Bill Hallows, AIF, late of the NG Volunteer Rifles, Edie Creek, New Guinea, who recently returned from the Middle East with the Sixth Division, is now back again in New Guinea, serving with a machine-gun unit.

The death of Mr. Jack Thomas Elliot, son of Mr. Thomas Elliot, manager of Nasini Quarry, Fiji, occurred at Nasini on October 28. He was 23 years of age and had been in ill-health for some time.