NINTH INFANTRY MARCHING

Press, Volume LI, Issue 15463, 16 December 1915, Page 8

NINTH INFANTRY MARCHING

THE GREAT TEST. WHAT A ROUTE .MARCH MEANS. (SPECIALLY WrtITTEX foe "the tress.") (Bt Will Lawson.) Tho camp in. which the Ninth Infantry Reinforcements are encamped, and from which they will start out this morning on their anarch across the Rimutaka Hill, is a camp of tents situated about 4 miles from Feathcrston. and two miles bovond the fine permanent camp which is being built. The tents aro sheltered to a great extent by chimps t)f manuka. The appearance presented bv the white tents

among the green and brown scrub is a pretty one, but a> a soldier sarcastically remarked alter reading a newspaper description of the camp, if the manuka scrub was not there, neither would the tents be there, for the howling, whooping -winds from the hills and from the south would soon lay them flat. In truth, the Tauhercnikau plain is a windy spot. Yet the place is heajthy and admirably suited to manoeuvres by both infantry and mounted

;nen; arid it is at Tauhercnikau that the uoops learn moat of their skirmishing, night marching and manoeuvres and route-marching. At Trcntham they are instructed in musketry, so the idea of their movements is arranged to give the men a fen weeks at Trcnthum or the branch camp at -May Morn, where they go through their recruit's drill and musketry. Then tney go by rail to Tauhercnikau and master iieldmauccuviing. By tnat tinio tney arc at 10 maun anywhere, ana mey go by road to Trentnam, crossing tnu! luuges by the old eoacn road at an novation of icet above sea level. iAico back at tho home camp, the men plunge with zest into their advanced nnisKeti v. In the case or trie Nintii an earlier crossing of tne Hill tnan usual is taking place, because these troops have not nad any musketry training in tho rorru of target snooting vet. iney will nave :ui exceedingly busy few weeks at 'I'rc-ntluun—so busy, m fact, that tho Camp Commandant, Colonel H. R. Potter, had grave doubts whether ho could allow mem leave on Christmas day. Leave for that day nas, however, been granted in common with all other troops in camp. The -.uith Mounteds were U> have inarched over the Hill too this time but it was found impossible to givo them extended leave early enough to have them back in camp by tho lbth. So they will go to Trentham irom vheir leave, and the infantry, numbering over 1500 men will tackle the big march on their own. How do the men feel on the eve of the big test of their marching powers? Jhn ¥T' eT - W3S giv , en b * one ° f te in ?<i!?n OWing ! vords - H « said: Fi-rhth 'rfvK** 0 « nfchs did {t and the oJSi- j d'S 0f °° urse a few m en cracked up, and no doubt a few of us will crack, up All the same, perhaps r«7 n > .*°r m - VS3lf « I fe *J nt. So oCt of 0 !™ Yct K mi &} bo the °ne out of 1000 men who will fail out. I hope not. but I can't say any more than anyone else can." ' That anpears to be th© feeling of the maonty; ,t , s as though they- had ■3££ i°li. a r A ce «nd someone asked fc Lrl ther wcro goin g to win. Ahey hope so, but how can they sav? W„L eV f y man , takes Precautions. On Jrednesday.,night "Light? out" will sound quite early, for it is to' be an early start on Thursday mornine \b *oon as dawn lights the skjes with saffron beams, the camp will be " astir. tli°Ax" mmer SUn , can bo "Sht hot on Kro,? a . ira, ; a - :pa . pain and in th « gorges through winch tho mountain road ascends, and each man has to carry a 601b pack, as we las his rifle. To men used to a cool climate, this means a severe trial on a hot forenoon. Even inl Austialia, tho troops find rotite-raarchinc severe work m summer, and the Australians are used to sunshine. So tho Ninth are going to tackle the heavy JSSfJ.f# tho 1 200 feet level in the •cool of the morning. Their kitbags will be packed and tied up before they leave camp, and will go by Army Service waggons to the railway, to b e sent en S an l- * or three da * s »»<* two nights the troops wdl be in the field, and thev will carry as little as posl siblo with them. • + To the civilian, a route-march is tho transferring of a body of troops by their own efforts from one place to another. It is a test of endurance. But Stf? i ef kn ° W t' 0r if ho doesn 't ho quickly learns, that it is a good deal more than that, though tho civilian's ideas are right so far as they go. But the companies which form tho column are as units of the whole, and if one goes tco fast or too slow, it throws the machine out of order. Three miles an nour is the distance usually covered by marching soldiers, with five minutes' rest at the end of every half-hour and ten minutes' rest at tho end of every hour; at every pause tho company wnicn has been marching in tho rear is moved up to tako the lead, and tho two men who have been marching in the inside of every file of four, are moved to tho outside. This is dono becauso it is pleasanter for a company to march at the head of the column and for a. soldier to march at the- outside of a file.

the Ninth ste D out from Tanheremkau with their band at the head of the column, they will be full of ginger and elan—they will want to hum- along the four miles of level road and tackle tho hills with a rush, that is how they will feel, for these troops are as lit as fiddles. But they will not be allowed to do so. Staff officers attended by orderly officers will bo posted, some at various points of tho road, some travelling with the troops. They will count the number of paces the troops are doing to the minute, and the number of men who pass a given point during that space of time. If the troops are going too fast, they will bo,checkcd; if too slow, they will, be speeded- up. When the leaders meet a rise, they win be inclined to shorten stride. This will mean that the trooris following thorn will nack up behind them. Or if a down grade is met, the leaders will want to lengthen their pace, and so march away from their comrades who arc still on the up-hill or on the level. All these matters have to be watched. The' Ninth, in their march from camp to camp, will have no other troops near them. But some day they may Se marching with an Allied army, numbering ten or hundreds of thousands. It is easy to understand that, in those circumstances, each body of troops must not occupy more than ■ its due share of the roadway: it must not stretch out nor crowd "up. Every foot lost between companies becomes a yard very soon, and at the end of an hour largo/spaces might occur between the units. The art of route-marching is to move the troops in a compact and orderly body along the road. The pace must never alter, whatever the difficulties. The men must march, march, march, as the Roman legions marched of yore. And as the Roman soldiers had their marching songs, so have these New Zealand soldiers: they will sing them as they march through the New Zealand mountains, like parts of a machine which never lengthens, never contracts, and never varies, as it goes on, on, on, over tho i hniy roads. How -the Ninths fare in the great test shzul be told anon.