ADVANCED ARMY TRAINING

Press, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23743, 15 September 1942, Page 5

ADVANCED ARMY TRAINING

GROWTH OF DISTRICT SCHOOL THOUSANDS OF STUDENTS EVERY YEAR The Southern District School of Instruction has been increased to several times its former size in the last few weeks. Thousands of officers,' noncommissioned officers, and men will now pass through the school in a year and will return to their Army units to • pass on the benefit of the special training that they have been given. The development of the school has been undertaken so that the best possible use can be made of the manpower available to the Army in view of its increased commitments in recent months. The efficiency of the individual will do a great deal to.make up for any lack of numbers caused by the smallness of New Zealand’s population, is the opinion of Army officers. The ideal would be for every man to take a course at the school. That is not possible, except over a period of years, but each month the stiffening of highly trained men becomes more important. „ . , The commandant of the school (Major R. Paterson) returned to New Zealand only a few months ago; he was still with the 2nd N.Z.E.F. when it was in Syria. By pre-war standards ha would be considered young for the position, but he has the experience and credentials fitting him for it. He left New Zealand with the Ist Echelon and was one of the senior officers specially selected to return this year to pass on the benefits of experience overseas. Where possible the same considerations have prevailed in the selection of his staff, a number of whom have seen active service in the Middle East. .. One of the new features of the school is that non-commissioned instructors do not remain there for long periods. It is believed that instructors who stay too long at the school lose their freshness and become out of touch with work in the field. Therefore, after a few months at the school they are posted to units,, overseas units in some cases, and arc replaced by new instructors chosen from men who have shown ability while taking courses at the school. In this way, it is explained, the school benefits by having continual freshneses among its instructors and units by the acquisition of men who have had training as instructors as well as training in their own subjects. Wide Syllabus Cavalry and artillery' personnel attend special schools, but the range of knowledge demanded of the infantry by modern warfare means that the school has a wide syllabus. Some of the subjects of Courses are:—Bren carriers, mortars (including the new and useful two-inch mortar), light and medium machine-guns, weapon training, grenades, the laying and luting of anti-tank mines, field engineering and field works, wiring, demolitions, signalling, first aid and stretcher bear-, ing, tactics, intelligence, map reading, compass, and camouflage; Most of the courses are open to Home Guard personnel, and they have some special ones ot their own* for instruction in certain weapons which are Issued to then, exclusively and in lines of communication and traffic control won*-' Some of the courses are highly secret. In addition to its ordinary work the school gives officer cadets their preliminary training. Courses vary in length from a few days to several months, but all of them mean concentrated work for the students. It has been found that they do not complain of the high-pressure methods, but that they do appreciate the opportunity of improving their efficiency, 1 • ■ - , To meet the needs of the, enlarged school several fine new lecture reww have been built and equipped. The school has a large, and well-stocked reference library and, as . well, a distributing library which issues pampb-, lets appropriate to the courses StU"dents are taking.