EFFICIENT TERRITORIALS.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 51, 29 February 1916, Page 8

EFFICIENT TERRITORIALS.

j ARTILLERY IN THE WAIKATO. i " " RECRUITS' GOOD WORK. j DURING AXNUAL CAMP. I Now is the season of Territorial i camps, and New Zealand's home defence • troops are coming a little from the obl scunty that has l>ccn theire since the outbreak of the present war. It is only natural, of course, that, the Expeditiomiry Force should take up irioaC of the attention of officials and public alike, _ but it ought not to be forgotten that the : defence forces were the framework upon _ which the original Expeditionary Force • was--built, and that although there is small likelihood that New Zealand will be invaded by the enemy, titer still have • a very definite place iv the "scheme of ' things. 1 The usefulness of the training provided by the Territorial Force was well JeJ monstrated in the artillery camp held 1 during the past fortnight at Tauwharc, - between Cambridge and Morrinsville. The A Battery, which occupied the camp, » has a very creditable list of nearly a liun- ; dred members and ex-members *on the - roll of the Expeditionary Force, and its - large contribution to the latter may be f gauged by the fact that more than 'half - the men in camp this year were recruits i drafted from the Senior Cadets only four 3 to six months previously. These lads, . who are obviously too young to enlist for . foreign eervice, entered upon their work with the greatest eagerness, and. in spite 'of many handicaps, due to their short previous training, acquitted themselves ' well. Colonel E. "Sherson,, commanding ' the Auckland Field Artillery Brigade, '• who was present during part of the ■ camp, eummed up the situation well in a short address to the men oefore his departure. He told them that it was almost certain that most of those in camp with the Imttery -would ultimately bo at the front, where so many members of the corps were on service already. He hoped that all of them would k(*pp thisiin view, and would carry out their work accord- . ibgly. The manner in which the recruits picked up their very complicated dutiesproved extremely gratifying to the officers, especially after eervicc practice, In which about fifty rounds of shell wore fired. The drivers in particular proved very efficient, although for many of them it wa3 a new and not pleasant experience to be placed astride a large and refractory country draught home, and expected to guide another \ip hill and down dale, through gates and along dusty country roads, -with a weighty gun-carri-age trailing behind. It was a compliment to the gunners, moreover, that the officers saw iit to disregard the explicit instruction contained in "Field Artillery Training," to the effect that only thor- • ouglily trained men shall be employed when blank ammunition is fired: Blank is always a source of danger to the gun detachment, for the reason that pieces of charred wadding arc liable to remain in the barrel and ignite the next charge before the breach is dosed. On this ccasion, however, there was no accident and no approach to one. Taken ac a .whole, the camp was a. valuable exercise, capably carried out, and should prove of the greatest use to those members of the corps who may enlist later on with the Expeditionary Artillery.