ARMY SHOOT AT TEKAPO

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28825, 20 February 1959, Page 10

ARMY SHOOT AT TEKAPO

No Decision On Ammunition Five hundred gunner* ere taking part in a four-day Held artillery shoot which begins Mt Lake Tekapo today, but late yesterday military authorities did not know if live ammunition would be used as inquiries into the premature explosion of a 25pounder shell on exercises near Waiouru last Saturday had not been completed. Two soldiers were killed and three injured in the blast at Waiouru. They were all members of the New Plymouth battery of the 2nd Field Regiment, Royal New Zealand Artillery. Immediately after the explosion. the exercise was halted and shooting of the brand of 25pounder ammunition was suspended throughout New Zealand. Army ordnance experts have been making inquiries into possible causes of the explosion since Saturday and confirming findings with Army ordnance officers in the United Kingdom. However, late yesterday afternoon. Army authorities, in Christchurch said the inquiries were still going on and no findings had been released. Three batteries of the 3rd. Field Regt. R.N.Z.A. are taking part in the shoot at Tekapo. One battery is from Christchurch: two batteries and the regimental headquarters are from Dunedin. Watching the shoot will be cadets from Christchurch Boys' High School, Christ’s College, St Andrews College, St. Bedes College, Shirley Boys’ High School and Rangiora High School. The Commander Royal Artillery (Brigadier S. Catchpole) will command the exercise. An Army Officer said yesterday, "The C.R.A. puts each regiment through its paces.” Air observation post shoots will be fired on Saturday. Two Army pilots. Captain A. R. Vail. . and Lieutenant T. G. Martin, will control firing from an Army Auster aircraft