A few memories
One dinner-time, a loud rumbling noise coming from the hills to the east of Dell Road aroused our curiosity and we had our first-ever sighting of military tanks moving about over the farmland.
While on a picnic at the Whareroa stream, we were entertained by tracer machine gun fire overhead landing in the sea - surely the best addition to a family picnic one could hope fort Before long. an officer came running along the beach shouting 'You're in the firing range - GET OUT!'
Maurice Perry
In the darkness from the corner bedroom that I shared with my sisters I would watch night after night showers of red tracer bullets that the Marines were shooting out towards the sea. They were like rockets and seemed to last for hours. Occasionally there were big booms that shook our house and rattled our windows. We were terrified.
One morning I awoke to see some very large grey warships out in front of our house. I did not know where they had come from or what they were there for. It was a bit frightening. I watched as those things like barges came in close to the beach on the waves, dropped their front part, and the Marines with full battle gear on leapt out and ran up the beach to the bank.
Leslie Varcoe
At night the Marines shot machine guns and rifles from one sandhill to another over the heads of troops advancing up the gullies. A lot of live ammo got dropped in the darkness and was lost in the lupin. Kids taking the shortcut next day picked it up and took it to school in their schoolbags or stuffed down their shirts. The teachers were scared out of their wits.
Geoff Roberts