THE BALCAIRN CAMP.

Press, Volume LI, Issue 15218, 4 March 1915, Page 6

THE BALCAIRN CAMP.

INSPECTION VST COLOXEL ; -

CHAFtEY

Yesterday Coionei Chaffer, accoia* panied by Major l'innis, motored out to tho Balcairn Camp, where the 1«, (Canterbury) Regiment Are under can. vas, to raako an inspection aud see the men at their training. The officer-corn- " manding tho district does not believe in fancy ceremonial parades on an occa< sion of this sort, and consequently, the continuity of tho men's training tfaj not interfered with in any way, and i» is being carried on in progress* fashion from eqnad end platoon driil i right up to operations with tho vrhoii battalion. The inspecting officers wer* received by Major Murphy, Officer-Corn." nianding tho camp, and tho senior offi- • cers of tho battalion, and after lunch ' a careful inspection was made of the camp and its environs. Only a few de- " tails wero in camp, which presented » ■ rather deserted appearance, as all tie men wero out on tho hills, having taken their lunch out -with them a$ usual. After camp inspection -was Ju> ished, the inspecting officers rode ous a couple of milos or so to where the_ uien wero exercising on the rolling " country to tho north of tho camp site. There was littlo that was .spoctacnl«r .' about tho display, -which "«as plain straight forward company and attack *■: drill, without any straining after im- - preserve offocts. Tho oompanios uader their officers wcro each allotted a cor- J tain area of ground, an imaginary < enemy's position was pointed out as an -v objective, and tho companies "were ot dered to carry out tho attack, being supposed to be supported by artillery- ; fire, until -within striking distance of /' tho enoniy. Each company worked in* - dopendcntly, and tie work was carried _. "" out on orthodox linos, tho men deploying in skirmishing order when they ' canio under the rifle-fire of the I "enemy," and proceeding by rushes,', taking advantago of cover, until the »• • eault, -when the enemy wero turned ort * of their trenches by a vigorous usetf: tho bayonet. When Colonel Chtifcy camo back to camp, ho inspected':)&« Army Service Corps, under Lieut. Me*- , - Kinloy, which section has dono esf£ J lent work in supplying all tho aecf£ ' saries for tho camp. *'-■ To-day Colonel Smith will go out ta the.camp to inspect, and on this o«a-" sion battalion attack will bo prat,.- - tised over an extent of about fofttv miles of country, in the forenoon, and',, from three p.m. to midnight battalion'".' outpost -work -will be carried out. The ~ ' country that is to be worked ovrer very hilly, affording good 'cover"jutd i>-{ - ---firo positions. To-morrow , tho whole day - will bo dnvoted to drill in advance, •,.-." rear and flank guards, which will -ctjl-.» '.' minate in a final battalion attack by, - tho wholo force. . * ' *'■ A THREE-BAYS' TREK., •[">-' On Tuesday night tho regiments'" ~- scouts, sixteen etron<j, under Sergeant ... Cook, and the. machine-gun section' " (fourteen strong) under Captain Smith,-* '"• came into camp after a strenuous ' three-days' trek, the men carrying all j their food with them, and bivouacking " ' in the open. The eoouts marched off ,~-Z with 301b of flour and eom'e other port- * ,-' ablo provender concealed about tnom,?* ( '> and struck oat for Mount Grey. "lived on the country," and mana"ed;\V" to get on quite comfortably. They "',_ mode their own bread, which wasVqiecf, '"\ better than the baker's stuff, shot , )*?."*',* fow hares with their rifles, ejuT i**"* 2 " '"*' captured a woodhen, -which, ii© fchef of tho party prepared, and a clay boll, the result, being «*vL-to "Vs "not too bad." -The miehiue-goiV3ttt?'U went out on a similar trek in a oifier* ?" out direction, also travelling light/in,!!.'._» living on the country, and both pat-, ties met at Mount Grey. Captain' Smith, of the gun section, says that' r the first night was Tory wet,-an J th*,A men cot very littlo sleep, but a scttlw-1.", (Mr Parnham) came to tho men's ros- j cue in a generous manner. Hβ invited-, thorn all to his honse. and fed them, , ; well, and then allowed them to camfc * in a loft, which was voted a lot bett ter 'than shivering about in a great-. , , coat. Needless to cay, Mr Parnham , * - action, was enormously appreciated the men. The men" of the gun were also successful in getting some '" ] hares, and one was said to have beta shot at 4OQyds -with a eerrice rifle. Y<& \ 'I torday the machine-gnn section was -j) exercised in digging gtin-pite. -I-vj GOOD WORK BY ALL. .t' The work of tho ecouts. the. machißer.o/ gun section, and the regiment's sigM>T, t lers, the last-named under Lieut. TSh_. ' dall, is yory highly spoken of by the"«-- J ficer-ooinmanding. Tlio scouts back some excellent maps and infonaa*' ; > tion after their trek, and the probably work longer hours than' • men" in camp. They have been out instruction in Morse and . sWffi-i,* h phoro signalling, and lamp-signalling*»* L night, and a day or so ago they aged to mako themselves particular \\ useful in an emergency. A.conjpw;''; was ont four miles from campy engagwf" , in trench-digging, when one man got c *>" ; severe blow from a pickaxe, jured his arm rather badly. Assistant* ;•; -. was needed in a hurry, and the an*; jut ant galloped off on a, horse to few",', the ambulance. As it happened. .." nailing squad was at work near by, ing in touch with tho camp threoga - two intermediate stations. They qaicUf- '] flagged » message through, and by.U», - 1 time the horseman arrived at w* '/- camp, he found the stretcher party well % on its way to the scene of the acddent. Luckily, the injured man w**. -t found to be not seriously hurt, and jz manngetl to walk back to camp. , .;-'. Si-caking of camp matters gcneraHjV #*iMajor Murphy eayg that the boh*vk«»~ v. of a.ll ranks leaves nothing to be oV'V r sired, and the men eeem to thoroogbiy t realise tho' seriousness of the training ~; they are getting. He liad been in camps ." for over seventeen yeare, and never attended a camn> which v&& jner*. orderly and fluiet. which was pirtic«-. ;.* larly gratifyin~. becauso thor*» number of men from the general traiw- - j inp section in the reciment. who * po far liad no knowletlce of ramp *ortv , ■ ■ The Major had a. good word tnsar for' - the Rxc°l!ont work done by the hand. ; urr'er Bandmaster Lieut. * Siddall. -* >• -ivell as for thp sur>pliw .oml tran>ppTK";' <JenaHin«»nt. and the V.M C.A., '*'&**, '-f tent had been a great boon to the' /, men. :-,• v ———^— —___ - * '*•