AN OPEN LETTER TO THE VOLUNTEERS OF THE AUCKLAND DISTRICT.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVII, Issue 254, 31 October 1906, Page 8

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE VOLUNTEERS OF THE AUCKLAND DISTRICT.

(BY ROBT. H. BAKEWELL, M.D.)

(By favour of. the Editor of the "Auck-

land Star.")

My dear comrades.—l write to you at most critical and important" epoch in \ our existence as volunteers, simply and solely as an old volunteer of 21 years" service as private and officer in volunteer corps in the Old Country and in New Zealand.

I enlisted in the Greenwich Company of the Ist Kent in 1559, and was one of the original members, having joined before the corps was gazetted. At that time we -were not formed into battalions, and every corps was independent, and chose its om uniform; and very funny ■uniforms some of them were. Ours was a dark (rifle) green, with black facings, and black belts, etc. We had to pay" a subscription of a guinea a year, and find our own uniforms, which cost £4 o/; pay for all our ammunition Id a round, both for practice and class-firing, and pay our railway fares to the butts on Plumsted .Marshes. So that at first the volunteer movement was confined to the middle classes. It was not select enough for the aristocracy—with a- very few exceptions—and it was too expensive for the ordinary wage-earner. A very few superior mechanics joined. But as a body the working men hated. us volunteers, and lost no opportunity of insulting and annoying us. They thought, perhaps, that we might be employed in any disturbance, to keep order. But this would never have been done. Unfortunately, one day a volunteer in a railway carriage, -who had been out for ball practice, found his gun loaded, and discharged it through the window of the railway carriage. Whether accidentally or purposeIly nobody ever knew except the fool himself, but he shot a dog: The affair somehow or other got into the papers, and thenceforth for years, whenever a volunteer in uniform had to pass through a working class neighbourhood, he was liable to be greeted with loud cries, of "Who shot the. dog?" followed by * roars of- laughter. This was very hard to bear. All we could do was to preserve a dignified silence, and march past as if the inquiry did not concern us at all. When the working men and roughs interfered with our meetings, wr had to eject them by force, and fists were freely used. However, at last; the Government granted such subsidies that working men were able to join, and at Woolwich and other Government workshop? whole battalions "were raised among the workmen, and- officered 'by the foremen and other officials. The only- volunteer corps in existence j before 1659 were the Honourable Artillery Company of London, which was founded by Henry VIII.. and the Victoria Rifles, which was founded (I think) in the early fifties. It now forms part of the Ist Middlesex. After a few months the movement bocame so extensive and important that the companies .were grouped into administrative battalions, with xhe usual staff officers. Many of these were retired officers of the regular army. We then had battalion drills, and later on field days, when several battalions would be engaged. The- most important of these occurred a few months-after our enrolment, when 20,000 volunteers of the London district vrere reviewed by the Queen in Hyde Park. No volunteers were allowed to take part in this review unless they had passed in squad and company drill. We worked hard., night after night, to attain this honour. After a few simple manoeuvres the whole body marched past in. columns of companies. We rare eertainlv a motley lot, for only a few of the battalions" were dressed in one uniform, as each company was allowed to retain that which it had first chosen. All. went, on beautifully until we approached the saluting point—and then — .and then (horreseo referens) an unlucky man- in the- company just in front of outs changed step; the change rippled all dawn the line, and we almost groaned j audibly. And then our right hand man Ichansed step in order to keep step with the company in front, and this happened just ,as we" were passing the Queen! I cannot describe jOur feelings, still less can I.write the language that was used about the man who first broke step. Of course, everybody who has marched over grass knows how difficult it is to "keep step, when the footfall gives no sound, and we were all horribly nervous, and no doubt, the Queeu saw how the muddle originated. But it spoilt the ! day for the Ist Kent.

It was at the conclusion of this review that the then French ambassador, who was watching it from the roof of the Embassy at Albert Gate, is said to have exclaimed, "Henceforth the invasion of ■ England is an impossibility." But I must ■ not prolong these reminiscences. Suffice it to say that we gave ourselves up, with few exceptions, earnestly to master our drill. \Ve learned squad drill under painful conditions, in a, large room, with a lot of ladies as spectators. Fancy the agony of practising extension movements and the before ladies! And we. had no uniforms for weeks, for we could not wear any until our corps was gazetted. After I had been a. couple of j r ears in this corps I had to resign, as I got nn apoointment in Cuba, but on my return to England I joined the First Staffordshire, another crack corps, in which I served as a private for some years, until I found so much attendance at drill injured my ■ medical practice, and they made mc Honorary Assistant Surgeon, an office which had been kept vacant for mc. Altogether I served five years as a private in England and IS months in New Zealand, to complete my twentyone years. ' The remainder of the time I was assistant suregon.

This brings mc to a point about which I want to speak plainly. When a private at drill or when oij any duty, if I met an officer I invariably saluted in the proper way. I had three first cousins officers in. the North Stafford battalion, and 'on field' days 'or battalion drills, when we broke off for luncheon, I used to go to their companies to have a chat, as we lived many miles apart. The first time I met them I saluted, and they laughed at. mc, and asked why I did that. My reply was that as long as we, were in uniform I was bound to salute them, and as every man in the battalion knew roe from wearing the Crimean medals', it wonia be setting a very bad example'if I iiid.n'ot salute in the.proper way. Their being my cousins niade no difference. When I was in South Africa if I met any men belonging to the regular army they always saluted; the colonials looked up with an impudent leer, and never saluted. This was the ease both in .Durban and at Knetown Bridge Hospitals

It -was,- I think, a matter to be regretted, that the. .Commsgider-ia-|Ghiet

did not take this up. It. showed a, want' of discipline, and this was just where colonials and volunteers failed. One day a gentleman who-resided near the hospital, and who. had a large; orange orchard, told mc that that morning.he had-sent ten cases, of oranges to the railway station to be forwarded- to Johannesburg. "A detachment of your blessed New Zealanders was going north m the train, and as soon as it stopped they jumped out. arid in spite of the orders of their officers, broke open all the eases and distributed the contents anions themselves and comrades." • He said he should have to apply to the military authorities for payment. This was not the only instance of the troopers raiding stations. I could fill columns with the stories of the atrocious want of discipline among the colonial troens from Canada, Australia, and New* Zealand. So badly', did they behave that, when we reached Albany on our way home, we found an order from the O.C. in Australia forbidding .any of us to land except the details for Western Australia. The gravest condemnation I heard was uttered by an. experienced officer of the regular army, who said: "Such troops are not soldiers, they are only an armed mob." It is of no use to say that these men would fight and fight well if they were required to do so. Perhaps they would, and then again, perhaps they would not. It would entirely depend on what they thought would be the result of the conflict." The damning fact is that you can't depend on them. Until a, soldier has learned to subjugate his own will to that of his commanding ofSeer, and to obey because he is ordered, and not because he thinks- the order reasonable and proper, he has not acquired the elementary step in becoming an efficient soldier. Obedience, instant, implicit, and unreasoning - , is required— '•Theirs not to reason wbr. Theirs D"t to make reply. Theirs bet to do and die!" as Tennyson wrote of the Bslaklava Light Brigade. A new system has to be' inaugurated for fae defence of thjs colony. Its success must depend on whether the young men of the colony, particularly those who are natives,.will take seriously and earnestly to heart the duty of defend--1 ing their homes and families. To do this effectually they must be drilled, ■ they must practise rifle shooting, and they must learn to submit to discipline. Sonic extraordinary delusion seems to occupy the minds of the colonial youth, that showing proper signs of respect to : superiors is a mark of degradation. Nothing of the kind! When a man takes off his hat to the Governor, he does not in the least lower himself in the Governor's estimation, or in that of any other reasonable person. He simply pays a : mark of respect to the King's representative. There is one fault that used to be almost universal among the volunteers in my day. and that was talking in the ranks. I hope that this never occurs in New Zealand. Another grave fault was unpunctuality. Even in crack corps it was very difficult to get men to fall in at the exact time ordered. Kow, this is a very serious fault, for by this, even if the majority are punctual, they caijnot fall in and number off properly if there are constant driblets arriving. If the Army Council should prescribe very strict rules against these two faults, they can hardly be too severe. The talking in the ranks generally originates with men who are smart at their drill, and who think themselves entitled to give commands to their comi rades: "Close up. Smith:" "Back, back! Jones,' , "Now then, Bill, where are you going to.: keep your touch!" and such like remarks. Of course, my dear fellows, you are very smart at your drill, and it is very provoking to see other men go wrong. But do learn to hold your tongues; remember you are not the officer in command; of course, if you were, things would be very different. In fact, you - could give ■wrinkles that would be of service to Lord Wolseley or Lord Roberts, or Kitchener, but your native modesty prevents you from saying so. Well, I will give you one piece of advice, just obey orders, and mind your own business, and you will find at the end of a two hours' drill that you have ha-d quite enough to do. To all volunteers, as an old hand, I would say, throw yourself into your work seriously, earnestly, and with the determination to do your duty in every respect. Arthur-street, Onehunga. October 25th (Balaklava Day).