TERRITORIAL NOTES.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 124, 25 May 1916, Page 8

TERRITORIAL NOTES.

(By 'RIFLEMAK.) EVENIJMJ . PARADES. Mondays.—Xo. 6 Company, X.Z.G.A.; No. 3 .Field Company, X.Z.E.; B Company and Signallers, Srd Regiment; Post and Telegraph Corps. Tuesdays.—Xo. " 1 Company, N.Z.G.A.; Divisional Signal Company; A Company, . 3rd Regiment; Ji, 4, 0, and 7 Platoons, Coast Defence Infantry; I'ost and Telegraph Corps. Wednesdays.—->Xo. 7 Company, N.Z.<J.A.; C •Courpany, 3rd Regiment. Battery. X.Z.F.A.; D Company, 3rd Regiment; 1, 2, and 8 Platoons, Coast Defence Infantry. i DAYLIGHT PARADES. May 27.—A Company, 3rd Regiment .(musketry); Post and Telegraph Corps (musketry). May 20.—X0. 2 Company, A.S.C., and A.S.C. N.C.O.'s. May 30.—bfo. 3 Company, A.S.C. May 31.—X0. 1 Company, A.S.C. Quite a number of people have been inquiring of the authorities as to. the whereabouts of the wireless telegraph unit which left New Zealand shortly after Christmas. Information has no>? been received that this unit arrived at Bombay on-April 1, and went overland to Madras. Beyond this nothing is to be learned as to its movements or present allocation. <Xo less than 150 men applied for khaki armlets at the'Dimedin drill hall one day lately, but it does not appear that the form "of hadge to which the Recruiting Soard so firmly adheres is being very generally worn in those parts. A number of men out of the 150 wanted to exchange French grey (medically unfit) armlets for the khaki kind, and in many eases produced their insignia from cigarette tins, in which apparently the insignia had been permanently housed. It" is notified that the minimum period of training to be undergone by all ranks of the Mounted Rifles Reinforcements lias been extended, and isf now as follows: —Preliminary training of officers and non-commissioned officers, 12 weeks; other ranks of the draft, 20 weeks; oflicer3 and non-commissioned officers will. therefore, put in a total training period of 32 weeks.

Men of the reinforcements, when on leave from camp, often develop curious ideas as to personal, adornment. Some of these notions produce a striking effect —so striking at times as to be more than a little unmilitary. The following are a few items noticed in' Queen Street lately: — Brass crowns worn on the sleeve instead of worsted; elaborately plaited braid sewn.round the shoulder straps, bright green puttee-tapes (on a mounted rifleman), whistle lanyards of brilliant scarlet, scarlet cloth inserted under shoulder titles and figures. Xo one will blame the boys for wanting to look smart and soldierly for the week or so of leave that fallowed them, and after , all, the uniform alone can't make the man, though it plays a bigger part in the process than the coat does in civil■• life. Still, the uniform is intended to be uniform, and soldierly thing is to follow thiit govern the-.wearing of -it; WiqqMb Aα ! j-oj . .'■.■' .-•

The, subject of officers commanding units claiming maintenance grant for members of tbe Territorial Force who have proceeded with the. Expeditionary Force without completing the whole of their training for the year lias been diecussed, and a circular memo, on the matter to the following effect has been issued:—"The General Officer Commanding has approved of the payment of maintenance srrant to Senior Cadet companies and Territorial units who completed as much of their annual trainingas was possible. " In order to facilitate the checking of the claims it would be well to render them under the following heads:—fa) Those who have completed tire required training; (b) 1 (in the case of Territorials) those who have completed their annual trainjng but failed to attend annual camp, and had leave on account of the-present exigencies; (b) 2 (in the case of Cadets) those who have completed all possible parades since date of posting; (c) those who have completed their possible training up to the date of departure of Expeditionary Force."

S.M.S. , whose clever rhymed versions of the souad-drill sections of "Infantry Training" have often, been reprinted \n this column, has contributed an Easter ode to 'Skirmisher's" column in the' Duncdin "Star." Here it is: • ATRUCE.. v A truce to drill .lust for a spaceTlie irrand old spirit of our race Bids mc ami you Play out our game like Drake the bold And heat, .as in the days of old The foemen, too. A trace-to pessimistic care, From gloomy prophecy forbear,' Ono-nlne-one-stx. As sure. nsTatn S.JI.S., We'll nnfl-the Kaiser , in'a mess— '■''■ Thc-iDe'U's own'fix. . A truce to every gloomy thought. And let us be just what we ousrht— ■• True British sons. Welcome the Easter .with a cheer A rouser that the boys.may hear ' Behind the guns. " ■■■ • A. truce.to melancholy mien When Easter comes upon the sivne With all its fun. • r . • "■' This yery eonl-that lends us mirth, ■ : The heritage of British birth " Will heat the Uun, • • A trace < to' drill, then, for a space; The grand old spirit of our race Bids mc and you - • ■Play out our game like Drake the boldJ And ■■beat, as in the days of old The ioemeu'too. The ■• Ne.w Zealand. Rifle BrigaSe fEarl of Liyerpool's had. a compliment paid, it, soon, after ..the first two battalions arrived.: in Egypt. At first the riflemen were referred .to -as the '"E.L.O.'s," but in. a. very short time they were known throughout the Army in Egypt, as the "Dinkums," which is good Australian, and is applied to everything that! is just and right. Candidates for training .at cadet schools for commissions in the Imperial Army are to be accepted from the overseas Dominions, according to information received from the War Office by the Commonwealth' High Commissioner. Applicants must ibo over ISJ years of age, and preference will be given to men with previous experience in the ranks! Candidates will proceed to England af; their own expense, and be required' to enlist for general service during the war. In the -case of "failure to pass the tests on the termination of his instruction the candidate may be returned for duty in the ranks. Candidates when gazetted receive £50 outfit allowance, pay 6f lieutenant, S/6 a day for cavalry and artillery. 7/S a day for infantry, aaj 2/6 a da; allotnuKe under caaraa.*

•■" '. ■"■ ' A DEEDED REFORM. ' After hearing many returned, soldiers' accounts of their dealing with medical boards, one is struck by tlic need for something in the nature of a medical record hook for issue to invalids upon their arrival in the Dominion. It is a characteristic of the returned man that he travels about tlie country a good deal, for hospital treatment and otherwise, and has at timee to report to medical boards and hospital superintendents in very various parts of the.country. Each man's personal file, under present arrangements, appears to be kept at Base Records, Wellington, and from the accounts given by many of the men it would seem tbat when an individual reports to a medical board the latter has generally no record of his medical liisiory before it. and goes entirely upon the man's condition at the time and the angjvera he may give to cjuestione. Possibly as an outcome of this lack of system cases have been known of enteric convalescents being ordered back to camp by a board, sent away again on examination by the camp mecjical officers,* and finally ordered into hospital by a board somewhere else.

The obvious remedy for this sort of thing ia the issue of a .book in which a record of all transactions between the man and the medical officers may be entered. Under such a system a summary of the man's medical history would be made in the book upon his arrival at the port of disembarkation, and the medical board examining him would also enter up its report on his condition and particulars of the period of leave or hospital treatment ordered him. The book would then be handed to the man, who would present it to the hospital authorities,on arrival at the institution, or to the next medical board at the expiry of hia leave as the case might be. This process would be repeated till his discharge or return to the front. Every medical authority dealing with a man would have all the facts concerning him in a handy ■ form, and available at once, wherever the man might be, without postal correspondence, delay, or muddle. The man could be compelled, under penalty, to preserve his record book and present it when required to do so. A record of this kind would not supersede the present file system, but would supplement it and save a great deal of delay and confusion.