BUSH WARFARE TRAINING

Press, Volume LXXIX, Issue 23848, 18 January 1943, Page 4

BUSH WARFARE TRAINING

SUCCESSFUL RESULTS OBTAINED LARGE-SCALE MANOEUVRES PLANNED (P.A.) WELLINGTON, January 17. “The bush and mountain warfare training introduced in New Zealand a few months ago has proved so successful and the results have been so strikingly good that it has been incorporated in the Army syllabus on a much' broader basis than at first contemplated,” said the Minister of Defence (the Hon. F. Jones) to-night. “The destruction of deer and goats carried out in conjunction with the training has also done much to check the natural increase of the pests. ' "From an experimental beginning by specially selected companies in October last, the new training has proved its value conclusively, and several large-scale manoeuvres planned for early 1943 will be held in part over high, bush-clad country, where larger units will be able to profit from the training which a considerable number of their personnel have already undergone under the pew scheme,” said the Minister. “This will be the fourth stage in the general adoption of the new training. The first was experimental expeditions into the back country by companies drawn from certain brigade groups. The second was the introduction of ‘nursery’ training near the brigade areas to fit men for future advanced training in the bush. The third was the inauguration of a bush and mountain warfare wing of the Army School of Instruction to provide instruction for officers.” Deer and Goats Killed

Mr Jones said that companies operating in the back country of both islands from early in October until just before Christmas killed 2450 deer and 530 goats and about 600 wild sheep and pigs. Many important and illuminating lessons had emerged from the experience of the first companies sent into the back country. It had shown first of all that even picked men from the training camps were insufficiently toughened for such arduous operations. Hence the “nursery” training in rough country near the brigade areas was at once introduced as a preliminary to the main scheme.

The experimental expeditions also disclosed that the majority of the officers and men lacked sufficient bushcraft to maintain themselves in reasonable comfort with the minimum expenditure of' energy when required to depend solely upon what they could carry on their backs, plus what meat they could obtain with their rifles. This deficiency was met by the creation of a new wing of the Army School. The first of these officers’ courses began in the Rimutaka area on January 10. Self-Reliance Fostered

Mr Jones emphasised on the other hand that bush and mountain warfare had ome again proved the resource and adaptability of the New Zealand soldier, and had fostered self-reliance. Up to Christmas time three companies from each brigade group in one North Island and one South Island division had completed three weeks in the back country and one North Island division had carried out large-scale bush and mountain warfare manoeuvres on a divisional basis. Reports of these operations showed that the troops had encountered rains, snow, floods, cold, and heat. It was encouraging to learn that without exception the spirits and keenness of all ranks had remained unimpaired, even under the most adverse conditions. “Should New Zealand troops be called upon to help clear the Japanese from the island jungles of the Pacific, the hard work which they have done in the bush-covered mountains of their homeland will undoubtedly prove of' the greatest possible value,” concluded Mr Jones.