TERRITORIALS. AND CADETS.

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 16406, 28 December 1918, Page 6

TERRITORIALS. AND CADETS.

THE YEAR S TRAINING

ormed into companies, by ayes p.Wi

munition. Parades have been inspected by ollicers from Ceneral and District Head-

quarters, who had e.'cpiessed themselves as highly pleased with the turnout. and standard of the work performed. Barracks wore held at Christ's College, and this corps won tho Passinoiv. Challenge Shield open to competition bv_ all the secondary schools in the Bomiiiicn. Candidates for commissions have not come forward in suflieient numbers, consequently then.

maiiv vacancies for officers in the Cfidefc companies. During the year there we're several changes in t'lo (•roup staff. Lieutenant P. A. Hawkins, who had' done \ cry valuable work with the Cadets, joined tho Expeditionary Force. The bands of the Giinsfc's College. Boys' Hiirh Seliou*. and Cbristehureh Cadets have made

ex.-eiieiit progress, and have reformed in publie ajiart from their units.

baud is a very valuable assoj in ;t military organisation, and it is hoped ere long that the band of the Chris;cliurch Cadets will be turned into a brass baud.

Tt has been nec-essarr to instiiuto a hirw number of Court i.i'o(.ee:!in'T" nga:nst- Cadets who failed to attend parades, but it is pleasing to note that t.ie delinquents were only a small

il t-mlv patriotic whole. |ee Christc'iurr-h Carn'son Ofllews' Club_ is oro'iioting an athletic sr-arts mpefcing for Tcriforinls rrd Cadets, bv which ii tans it is hoped in iucriWe competition and rsnrit do corp«. The Amateur AthJoiie Association bus consented to help with the mor-timr, jt nuticipa(ed that the sjcrtJ vi',! be highly successful."

Though the efforts of the military authorities have during the past year been mainly centred upon maintaining adequate supplies of men and material fir the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, work in connexion with tho Home Army, the Territorials, and their ro'Tiiitinrz adjunct, the Senior Cadets.

hsid not been altogether forgotten. In fact, much useful training has been in progress. iairing into consideration the disorganisation oi ihe Territorials caused by war enllstmcntd, which greatly depleted the .strength in the Christcburch district, up till Juno. In month, however, all units, wilh (he rxccniiou of the* Ist Regiment. were brought up to strength by ;hc annual porting of Senior Cade-is who bad ri'n r -hed IS yeaiv, of ago. Parados «>!' Territorials have been held continuously. and have beon fairly well attended. When applied for cither by man or employer, leave was freely given by the anihoriiies whore it was shown that hardship would l>o caused by tho man attending parade--. Instead of <-ac!: unit holding its own annua] camp, a ccntral camp was established at JVirnliam. into which Territorials from North and South Canterbury, and tho Vt'est Coast, worn brought. This camp proved very successful. and especially econoniifal. Except for the Garrison Artillery, the annual camps will not beheld this coming yoar, chiefly to facilitate demobilisation of the Expeditionary Force. Many units in the past have left the firinsr of tho annual musketry course until tliry ontor eatnn, which is not favoured, or even permits ted in peace time, t-o that a few additional daylight parades will bo necessary for this purpose. All units, since v.h« commencement of tbn war. have, suffered through losing officers and lack of rriuipmo-it, but witli the end of th« war In '-ijjht these matters should snecdily be adjuster!.. The officers who uor</ nreventod by age or medical from goinc on active service, have wprkod very burr] to keen tboir •onini."i;ds oTicient. The- d°':ision of Ibf; iV-MU-o'iie Court. +ha'<■ Territoria Is '•!a c i?ed C° medical'** examined fur the Kxoeclitionary lforce. must r«rifl«" iwsriiaj service in lli« Tcrrito-i-inl brought- a food many men b-ivk !■) the.ir units in CI ristehurch. SENIOR CADETS.

The .Senior Cadets aru floumhiiig i' l (he <, hri.itchurch Croup, jiutv.ithtiiituding Uv: abnormal conditions prevailing, facades have been hold regularly evciy we.-lc, and the attendance lias, been highly satisfactory. As in the of .tiic Territorials, leave has been freely given to C'adot s where parades would inconvenience employers, and the s-.pirit of employers lias been appro-[•iat-eil by the Department. In Juno last, ihe' Cadets in Cliristchurch wore

cipally, for tho purpose of allowing boys of one age to train together. 'Ihe oflieial syllabus of Cadet training is so compiled that each year a Cadet will

undertake higher work. The objocfc of this progrcssivcness is that when tho lad is posted to tho Territorial Force upon reaching 18 years of age, he hi'.i completed his recruit's training and can go ahead with nioro advanced work. Although boys of one age are not all the same size and endowed with tho same amount of brains, the new. organisation has proved a great success facilitating training and the keeping of records. Tins year a desperate attempt was made to put evcrv Cadet through the musketry courso before Christmas and up ti!l the beginning of November, when the

influenza epidemic took hold of the citj, excellent progress had been made. Parades then had to be abandoned. I'liis was. very unfortunate, especially in the c:ue of the secondary schools

eoiiipinies, whose? year ends on December 31st. Many members of the

schools contingents -will now leave school. and c'onsequently thr> company average will bo reduced. This is serious, as musketry is nu important factor in the determination of the Passmove Challenge Shield Competition. Likewise the "Weokly Press" Chal-

lenge Shield Competition, tho Snow Shield Comj-ietition, and the barracks at (he Cliristohurch Hoys' High School had to be abandoned for tho same reason. Cadets under 16 years of agfl have ir. tho past lest ii deal of interest through nofc.heiny able, to their stature, to lire the musketry course. This is now remedied, a fine miniature range having been erected in Kixiu: Edward where these lads out do their shooti)*;* with the Service rifle converted to lire .2l! ani>