GOOD SHOOTING.

Press, Volume LIX, Issue 17936, 3 December 1923, Page 3

GOOD SHOOTING.

• ' r .. TENTH BATTERY IN ACTION. ■ . "* _ I. . ' . I Members of the Tenth Battery, New Zealand Artillery, who have just completed a course of sis days' consolidate' training at Burnham, under the command of Captain A. B. Williams gave a practical demonstration of wliat tnej had learned at the annual shoot, on Saturday morning. The batter} por - tion was 'at- the toot of the Canal lieserve, on the edge of the Sumner Jistu«ry. The targets were placed on a s-uulspit at the south end of Brighton beach. The shells were fared at a of 8650 yards, tho shooting in the circumstances being excellent and reflecting great credit on the oAccrs and the. ICO men. Those m char - of the shoot were Captain A. JJ. \\ HJiams, Adjutant Thud- Brigade, » Lieut.-Colonel R. C. A\Kivens. D.5.0., Officer Commanding the Ihird N.Z.A.; and Lieut.-Colonel M. M Gard'ner, . Director of Artillery, « 1 were all at the observation post, situated on "a'hill above the Sumner tram line, while "at the : guns position Lieutenant W. O. Bradley. Ie v ' ■ tlier conditions were good, llie slvj was clear, and the visibility was quite S and t!,e burst of shrapnel could be seen clearly from the, observation, post. The battery was commM fd by Captain "\V. .Earnshaw, who took tIK first, third, and fifth tenets. seconiKand fourth series were taken bj i Lieut. Moore. n . Although the estuary has been used I on a number of occasions for In e shell practice, it is probable that it mil not

be used many more times, a number of complaints having been made by pro-perty-owners in the vicinity. It is likely, therefore, that- guns will in future be brought into action some considerable distance from the city, Springfield being mentioned as the most likely place. If the change does..take place, it will probably mean that the guns will have to be sent up from Christchurch the day prior to the shoot, but it will possess certain advantages. There should, for instance, be better holding for the guns, the soil at the estuary being so soft and spongy as to cause the trails to become embedded unless sandbags are used to counteract this effect. '