INSPECTION BY GENERAL

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29107, 20 January 1960, Page 16

INSPECTION BY GENERAL

Territorial Unit ‘ At Burnham

A ceremonial parade of the Ist Battalion, Otago-Southland Regiment, will be held for the Chief of the General Staff (MajorGeneral Sir Cyril Weir) at Bumham Military Camp tomorrow morning.

The regiment has the greatest strength of any territorial unit in New Zealand under the new volunteer scheme. Its 300 members now taking part in annual camp training are due to come out from the bush behind Oxford this afternoon after a period of jungle warfare indoctrination and experience.

“It is a mighty unit on present day standards,” the South Island Army recruiting officer (Major J. R. Spence) said yesterday. “The chaps in camp have been extremely happy and there are 150 more who could not get off work to come to the camp and for whom a special camp will be arranged in May,” he said. The unit is based on Dunedin and Invercargill, and is commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel D. L. Woods, a Dunedin solicitor.

About half the number in camp now comprise recruits who had had no training under the compulsory system which preceded the present scheme.

General Weir will inspect the battalion when it returns from the field in his capacity as officer commanding the New Zealand Division. He will be accompanied by several high-ranking officers including his GSOI (Colonel H. A. Purcell), the Director of Infantry and Training at Army headquarters (Lieu-tenant-Colonel F. A. Rennie), the commander of the 3rd Infantry Brigade of which the battalion is a unit (Brigadier T. B. Morton) and the Colonel of the Regiment (Brigadier A. S. Falconer, of Dunedin).

General Weir will also take the opportunity to inspect, while he is at Burnham, the Regular Force artillery battery based there. This battery, 163, is under the command of Major H. A. Colquhoun.