ARMY OFFICER RETIRES

Press, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 27012, 11 April 1953, Page 6

ARMY OFFICER RETIRES

MAJOR L. HARRIS, OF CHRISTCHURCH Major L. Harris, who has served under fi V <r brigadiers at the Southern Military District headquarters and spent longer in the headquarters than any of the other officers, retired from the appointment of Deputy-Assistant Director of the Royal New Zealand Electrical and Mechanical Engineering Corps yesterday. Major Harris has spent 13 years in the Regular Army and has held his latest appointment for nearly eight years. The increasing mechanisation of the Army is one of the strongest impressions Major Harris will carry with him in his retirement. He recalled in an interview yesterday that the Army impressed a wide range of vehicles in the early days of the war. “There were all makes and in all conditions,” he said “We certainly had a few headaches maintaining and repairing those.” The Army today possessed a wide range of equipment, including 300 re-cently-overhauled vehicles. The overhaul of these vehicles, begun by a Christchurch engineering firm 12 months ago, was the responsibility of Major Harris. These 300 vehicles were now in war-worthy condition.” said Major Harris.

The Electrical and Mechanical Engmeenng Corps—the youngest branch' of the Army—was now staffed by men of 27 trades, which illustrated .the specialised nature of the modern Army said Major Harris. These tradesmen ranged from watchmakers to fitters and turners and vehicle mechanics Major Harris considers the four-star system of grading recruits a great advance on the old method of recognising a recruit’s special qualifications by rank. Under the four-star system, a man was given immediate recognition for any trade qualifications, so that a tradesman’s pay compared favourably with award wages. Major Harris served overseas in the First. World War in the 2nd Canterbury Battalion, and later in the Ist Canterbury Battalion in the Territorial Armv. On entering the Regular Army in 1940 he served in the Army Service Corps and later the 3rd Reserve Motor Transport Company. A presentation on behalf of the whole staff—service and civilian—of the headquarters was made by the Commander. Brigadier J. T. Burrows, yesterday afternoon. Officers and their wives said farewell to Major and Mrs Harris at a function last evening.