VOLUNTEER AND DEFENCE NOTES.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXII, Issue 206, 11 September 1901, Page 3

VOLUNTEER AND DEFENCE NOTES.

(By "Rifleman.")

Lieut.-Col. Davies is to take command of the Auckland district on October 1.

Captain J. Beid, district adjutant, inspects the No. 2 company of Waikato Mounted Rifles on Friday.

The Devonport Coastguard Artillery will hold their usual monthly inspection at Devonport to-morrow night.

The Auckland Naval Artillery parade at the.Fort to-night for monthly inspection by the officer commanding the district.

Major Holgate intends applying for three months' leave of absence. Lieut. Wynyard is in temporary command of the Auckland Mounted Rifles at present.

The "D" Battery, Wellington, is in a very flourishing condition, having a membership of about 90 to 100 men. They claim to have sent more men to South Africa than any other company in the colony.

There is talk of forming an infantry volunteer company at Waharoa (near Matamata). A prominent local resident is in communication with the Defence authorities on the subject.

Lieut.-Col. White goes up to Rotorua on Saturday. in order to put CaptaTn Barron and Lieut. Gillespie, of the local volunteer company, through the practical part of their examinations for commissions.

The reason ascribed for the substitution of the drum for the trumpet in the Italian Army is that in these days of short service a young soldier learns to march to the drum far quicker than to the trumpet. It is also found that trumpeters are very subject to pulmonary affections.

Colonel Pole-Penton is expected to leave Wellington next Saturday for the Cape. He is anxious to see some service in South Africa before going back to England, and it is with this end in view that he takes over the Sixth Contingent command on ' his arrival at the seat of war.

The Auckland Navals' annual ball takes place on Friday, the 20th inst., at St. Benedict's Hall. I have to acknowledge the receipt of a ticket for the same. The Druids' string band has been engaged, and I have no doubt but that it will be as successful as their past socials have been.

The Whangarei Rifles are reported to be making good progress. The new magazine Lee-Enfield rifles have been served out. The officers have all had considerable experience; Captain Steadman is an old volunteer officer; Lieut. Hicks (who wears two medals) has seen service; and Lieut. MacGregor is an old Thames volunteer.

The following are the Akarana Rifle Club's fixtures for the beginning of the season:—On Saturday afternoon next the Avondale range will be opened for the season with a match between teams selected by the president and vice-presidents. Ranges 500 and 600 yards, 7 shots and 2 sighters at each. Teams will be chosen on the ground. The following competitions have been fixed for the dates mentioned:—September 21st: Marble clocks, A. and B. class, the ranges being altered to 300 and GOO yards, 10 shots and 2 sighters at each range. September 28: A. class, J. G. Buchanan's medal, 300, 600, and 700 yards, 5 shots and 2 sighters. B. class: Maughan's cup, ranges and number of shots same as A. class. Conditions: three best out of five competitions, the winner of competition to count 4 points, the second competitor 3 points, the third 2 points, and the fourth 1 point towards the possible aggregate of 12 points. October 5: A. class, G. Read's medal, and B. class, E. T. Buchanan's medal, 300, 500, and 600 yards, 7 shots and 2 sighters.

Lieutenant-Colonel Gordon, who has retired from the position of officer commanding the Canterbury district, was (says the Christchurch "Press") commissioned to be commanding officer of the Canterbury district on January 10, 1891. His military career opened in 1861-62 in the Royal Military College at Sandhurst. After going through that institution he was gazetted to the Royal North British Fusiliers (now the 21st Royal Scots Fusiliers), and was transferred, at his own request, to the Essex Regiment (now the 44th). He left the Imperial Service in 1866 or 1867, and came to this colony, where for a period he followed farming pursuits in the Auckland district. In 1883 he was appointed captain and adjutant of the Otago district, in which position he rose to the rank of major. He was adjutant of the Otago district when he took command of the Canterbury district with the rank of lieutenantk.olonel. Prior to receiving a commission in the New Zealand Volunteers Force Lieutenant-Colonel Gordon received a commission as field adjutant in the Armed Constabulary Force of the colony, and whilst holding that rank was present at the operations against Te Whiti at Parihaka in the early eighties.

By the Royal Warrant instituting the D.S.O, (says an exchange), that decoration was confined to commission officers only." But naval warrant officers, such as boatswains and gunners, and subordinate officers, midshipmen and cadets, receive no commission, and so cannot receive the D.S.O. At the same time they are debarred from the medal for distinguished conduct on the field, which can be awarded only to petty officers and seamen of the Royal Navy, and to the non-commissioned officers and privates of the marines. The only means of recognition of the gallantry of the naval warrant and subordinate officers was promotion, which to a warrant officer —especially if he is married—is but a doubtful boon. The gap caused by War Office methods has been filled up by the King's institution (on the recommendation of the Lords of the Admiralty) of the Conspicuous Service Cross (C.S.C.) — a silver cross, with the reverse side plain, but having on tbe obverse side,

in the centre, the King's cipher (E.R.1.), surmounted by the Imperial crown. This decoration is to be awarded for meritorious or distinguished service before the enemy performed by warrant officers or subordinate officers of the Navy mentioned in despatches.

"Scout," writing in the "Otago Daily Times," says: "From an officer who has recently been north I gather that volunteering in Auckland, owing to the drill-shed having been burnt down, is in rather a bad way just now, and is not likely to recover until a new building is erected. The men, when they are called on to parade, do so at some street corner or other, but if the weather is at all inclement they are dismissed. This uncertainty as to whether any work will be done or not results in a lot of men staying away. The Navals are the strongest, and about the best corps in Auckland, the fact that the Aucklanders are great boating people tending, no doubt, to make this branch very attractive. My informant, being specially interested in field artillery, made a point of looking up the batteries in the other three centres. He found at the time of his visit to Auckland no signs of the new 15-pounder guns for the 'A' Battery, who have only five 9-ppunders—one having been destroyed in the drill-shed fire—of the same obsolete pattern as those possessed by the 'B' Battery. Pending the arrival of the new guns and the building of a new drill-shed, the 'A Battery are not doing very much, gun drill being intermittent, while no theoretical instruction is given. The 'A Battery, when they go out, hire horses, and, rather peculiarly, men are supplied with them. These men secure the battery uniform as best they can."

The following in reference to our new officer commanding is from a Christchurch paper: — "LieutenantColonel Richard Button Davies, C.8., who has just been appointed to the command of the Auckland District, is one of the most popular officers in New Zealand to-day, a result which is largely due to his magnificent work in South Africa with the First Contingent, A surveyor by profession, he has for a long time been an enthusiastic volunteer, and for nearly five years previous to his appointment to the command of the No. 1 company of the First Contingent held the position of Captain of the Hawera Mounted Rifles. It .was while under his command that this corps came so often to the front, and was classed as one of the finest in the North Island. When it was decided to divide the Fourth Contingent, Major Davies was selected as commander of the second portion, Lieutenant-Colonel Francis being in command of the first, and in the position of commander he established a reputaion which will be long remembered. For dash and bravery, combined with clever administration, he is hard to beat, and there is no doubt that' under his command the Auckland District will make rapid strides. LieutenantColonel Davies is an ardent advocate of the Mounted Rifle system, which he looks upon aS the principal branch of our defence scheme."

The following are the concluding paragraphs of an interesting article on "Warfare, Past and Present," by Colonel Morris, in the Christchurch "Press":—

"The War Office, I think, is now quite alive to the nece.sity for an absolute change in the drill, manoeuvres, and tactics of the army. The chief difficulty in carrying out this change will lie in some of the old oncers—men of the old school, who have to unlearn almost all the lessons of strategy they believed in their youth. The field days at Aldershot, and the Autumn manoeuvres, will have fo be changed. Instead of attack in battalion formation, or even of the usual skirmishing order, loose and open formations, with an extended front, will have to be- practised, so that the men may learn self-reliance, and not be entirely dependent upon their officers. It has been argued during this Boer war that it is quite unique, and that in the event of@a war on the Continent, the circumstances would be different, and the tactics taught in our military schools would then be effective. I do not believe it; there can be no doubt that the conditions which prevail in South Africa would also prevail in Europe. To sum these up. No force can attack an enemy entrenched and under cover, across an open plain, hence all approaches must be made with an extended front, the attacking force availing itself of all broken ground, and any and all cover; the several troops, therefore, engaged in the advance may be widely separated by plains that no troops could face. It is, consequently, of importance that officers should be able to act independently, simply carrying out the plans of the general as laid before them beforehand. It is of the greatest importance that the men, also, should be made to rely upon their own resources, without waiting for instructions from thfeir officers. When cut off from their comrades they should, of their own initiative, know what to do, and how to do it, how to take cover, and hold their own, until help can arrive. This they can only learn during times of peace, and the success of our arms in future wars will entirely depend upon the teaching they may now receive."