DEFENCE FORCES.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 167, 8 April 1908, Page 9

DEFENCE FORCES.

/ A MILITARY APPOINTMENT. . MAJOR A. I- 1 . HEAD TO BE DIRECTOROF ARTILLERY. It is.officially announced that tho position ■ of Director of . Artillery, made vacant by, tho j retirom6tit, ;at't-ho-ond of his 'temporary'ap- . pointment, "of Major Johnston, -in March,' 1907, has been filled by the selection of Major Arthur 'Francis Head, of the. Royal Garrison : 'Artillery,,.'at .present, commanding : No! 14 Company,;R:G.A., at Stoebunjness.', 'He Tfill rank as colonel in tho New Zealand Forcca. Major. Head, who is" about, forty-four y«vr3 sf ago, ontorod tho Royal Artillery-in 1836, boiiig'gazette<l lieutenant, on Fobruary 18 of that year.; Ho gamed his captaincy in' October, 1896, and m Octobor, 1904, got .his majority. Major Hoad was with. the Indian North-West Frontier Force in 1897-93, and with the/Tirah Expeditionary Forco as'Divi-. sional Ordnance Oflicer (Second Division)' : from November,, 1897,; 'until January,' 1898' ; (medal- with two clasps). -- ''.; Tho. duties of Acting-Director ;of Artillery have been carried on,- since Major Johnston's retirement, 'by ; Captain:. G.' S:, Richardson, chief ; instructing bilker l of; Artillery Forces, ,'and tho general efiiciciicv of both field and . garrison artillery corps 'has, under his keen and energy,-attained a very-high , standard/during tho .p.ist year: ,; ! EASTER MANOEUVRES. .

■ LETTER TO HARBOUR' BOARDS. - . A?rarigemehts" for ; tho defence . manoeuvres to .-.bo- earned -out. by the,'Wel'Ungton.;diyisiph;/6f the Garrison Artillery during..Easter in hand; With a ■ now of ; -carrying> out as far as;, possible'tho - actrial conditions of war, servicb, the' foliow- . ing. circular . hasbeen' addressed.'by the Forces : Tusbn) 'to the, sccrHtaries j of. ,tlio ' Harbour .Boards at tho four defended.ports:— ', ' "I. : havo tho honour to inform you' that it has boen decided to carry out coast; defence- fhanoouvres jin connection with.tlio;harb6ur defences of Auckland,.. AVellington, Lyttelton,-and Duiiedin, rc- • epcctivoly, during Eastor. During tlics'o manoeuvres ,it is - intended to rehearse : [ - certain '. warconditions,. iucliidiug '.. the - examination of. vessels entering, tho harbour, if tho Board has no objection. This examination will bo carried out by ' a vessol v specially., detailed to act as ' oxaminajiion vessel' for several hours . , eachi;day-;'r. i ';^:lt';is-:'not anticipated that', harboiir jtraffio • will bo inconvcriienccd,- ' . es-;." the [■ examination- sennco will only probably .be put .into force during Jiours - . when tho''trafflc 'isinconsiderable,--.• prolj* . ably. from 11- "3'a.hi. 'on tho '■ nights;. of.. 17-lSth,, 18-19 th, 19-20tb inst.j and, from 3,p:m. to-5 p.m; daily. I ~TyilU;.be glad if you -will kindlv help the. .i'J) - cpartmcnt in ' this matter ... by bringing,'it- to: tlio.-notico of. shipping v masters, and tho dccal. harbour author!? tics. v l -iv;ouldj!also glad:if you will - inform me;if-your.Board' has any objee-: .-. j' tioa to-' the-carrying out'.of; the scheme ' as;xuggepted:"'' ' ; 'bo,:;'iseon-.frbm,~. tho foregoing ; that, while the Department is desirous of - introducing ;into tho; scliemo .of' operations tho actual conditions of war, it is dependent- . to a. considerable- extent on the ' indulgence of the.public, and it will, readily lie admitted that,' whatcy6r:;temppfary- inconyenienco may arise,' : and-? that j' , ; if 'any,- must ; 'at the ',-moSt'. . bo very slight, t-ho gain to the forces as • regards experience and efficiency will bo sucli as to more -than compensate for tho samo. The, following signals will bo used during ■ tlio operations:— '^l'roclM^^nemyiintsiglit^. .ihi'' ■ '. , '";2 .ittefflpting'-a'.land- •' ;; • . irigvs; ;i.itii,;V, jji - j;-''. . ~" -.3 rockets—Eneiny • •- ■ .The r '£iifi' alarms';Will/be;similar/."' : / . Liout.-Colonel ? Campbell; < commanding the Garrison Division- of .Naval, Artillery, will act as ;Coast ''Defence; Commanderand, Captain Richardson-'ns'-difcct-or of all : harbour defence- operations at. Wellington.• . Colonel;Rv.J/ Collins, -Finaneo'Member.!of.tho /"Council : of' Defence, Tfill: represent- tlio Council (at ,'the 'East«r : ; manoeuvres; in,-.'the Wellington Military District; * It was ' originally! intended that CplpnelDavios, C.8., In-spectbr-pbiidral of the'Fofces, would repre-' sent the Council, but, ai tliat'officer is to bo . present as .representative of the.Department. • at tho : Commonwealth - manoeuvres; Colonel Collins will take his place. Colonel Collins was .to have been present' at' the: operations'in . tho Otago.district. ' . .. ■ - Advanco,-copies I .'6f;:th'o new' teixtrbook oil "Mounted Infantry:'-Training,r; 1908,", have beisn j received >by. tho. Defence -Department, , ;:,and issued', to oiieh; military '• district, - thus affording' corps-.- an;: opportunity of studying tho book 'before-thb Eas'ter manceuvi'es. Tlio' .itenakl;,;whiclr'^'s i '(»mpil(^%'by>th6:-ihstnie'-tional;,staff ,of tho is-very'- cbm% plete, l : copiously l illustrated/- and carefully in--dexed;:for reference:-'^ •> v i •.

*; D BATTERY. ANNUAL MEETING. ,The annual.meeting of,tho D Battery! NewZealand Artillery ..Volunteers,'was held in.tho company's lecture-room, Mount' Cook, : last evening.' : Captain' Petherick, officer < commanding'the Battery/ presided, and there was a largo attendance 1 of members. . ' . ■ 'THE- ANNUAL REPORT.'- ■ - ■ -.Th®"fortieth -' imual ; report'of -the/Battery. stated, byway of-prefaco, that tho company would> celebrate its forty-iirst. anniversary on July.; 22.next.- -..During-tho pastyear tho oompany had ' ; more than' held its .own asre•garas' paradoVmustbrs, discipline, and general efficiency.!; ■/;' . _ Umforms.—Tho full-dress .-.uniforms on .issue ,wero: stated ..tp. bo .in fair .order, and some, now, outfits 7 would bo required'to complete ,'the.establishment.; v Tho vkhaki uniformj ;(from; : ;tho.' nature of the work ; of the iiatteryv had been subjected to rough, usago; : but hs<l stood the wear very well. i r ' Recruits.—Recruits ■■■• had oome into the ' ranks-m good numbers during the year, and had, on tno wliolej proved themselves to be ■ acquisitiohs'to' the Battery.. It ..was strongly recommended that recruits should, in future bo required to show that they 'would bo iikely t-o bo. permaneiit residents in tho city, as tho expense of outfitting . was very great Ilecruits . further, earn, at least one year s Capitation.. As*a number of men had applied ,for their discharge, thero were now vacancies for fifteen recruits. • i Parades.—Parades had been weir attended during tbo: year,. 76, out of a total of 78, having'eariied ' '. Promotions and Resignation'3.—The Battery sustained .a severo loss-during tho year by the;, resignation .of 'Captain Conrtehay, whoso retirement had caused grffit 'regret not'only-to'.the corps but to thowholo garrison. " • Pleasure was expressed that ho had . consented to , join the District Staff. , Lieut-' onant- Petherick was elected to the command, and Mr. Glendinning became .first lieutenant. Mr.' ■ i! rank Hume also rejoined-tho Battery after some, year's' absence, but .was compelled, for reasons of health, to retire at the end of, tho year, a step which was much regretted by the corps. Two ex-members of the Battery, ..Serjeant Boattio and Corporal Climie, had. joined, E ; Battery' at Christchurch as subaltern dfli'cers.' Corporal Bonnett, another, member of 1 , tho. Battery had after examination, been, appointed > Instructor, to' the. I ' Fijian Forces.. . After lonf and efficient Quartormaster-Sergeant King resigned bis position,"but had.asked to be attached to.. tno - Battory us a gunner Sergeant-Major 'Gibson became Q.M.-Sor-geant, -and Sergeant Skelley. sergeant-major. The.-vacancy "created by-tiie resignation of' Serjeant Brown was . filled by the promotion of Bombardier Avery. . Captain Riohardsori.— I The' congratulations of the Balj'tery were extended to' MasterGunner ..Richardson 011 .hid well-earned promotion to a .captaincy, and the responsible position of■ Acting-Director of Artillery.. . • Obituary.—Regret was exprossed at tho removal'by. deatli. of Driver Harvey-and ExGuiiUor Minine. • Riflo i Shooting.—Good shooting had been maintained during tho season just closed.

Tho results of tho various competitions wero as follow; — 'Aggregates. Championship. Belt— Sergt.-Major Skelley 430 Runners-up— Captain Petherick ... 42G Gnnnor Plimmor ... 426 : Th'o'B class gold modal' was won by Gunner Cotterill. . ' Tho' Wellington Challenge Cup, five men a-sido, was .won-"for the first timo. by tho .Battery at tho Wellington Riflo. Association meeting. ' Tho Battery's representatives, at. tho Now Zealand Riflo meeting in March last wero Sorgt.-Major Skolley, Corporal Wickens, and Gunnor Plimmor., At tho District meeting. in : November last Sergt.-Maior Skelley -.was runner-up for tho Belt, anil Corporal Wickens and Gunner - Plimmor fired ' into fourth and sixth place respectively. At tho -Government prizi-firing-in January Inst the Battory's roprosentativeH did, very well, winning amongst them £13 10c. Genera]. —At tho annual social held on 1 -March 26, 1907, Major Johnson, tho retiring Director of Artillery,- presented tho Challongo Shield, which had been won for tho second-timo by. tho Battory. ) Opportunity was taken to present tho departing officer with a handsomoly-framtd photograph of tho oorps. ■■ .' - < -Tho annual football match,' Battery v. Wellington Navals, April 6, 1907, was won by,tho Navals, with a narrow,margin., .'At tho insnection of tho Battery by Colonel Robin, C.8., Chief of tho. General Staff, tho' corps was highly, complimented on its.general efficiency. ' '• ~. -Thanks wero expressed to, tho -Permanent' Artillery, instructional staff, and especially wore mentioned Sergt.-Mnior Wilson, Sorgt. Petersen,_ Corporal Sommerville, Bombardior ; Hone Kaihi, and the drivers. Tho Battery ended the year with a. cash balanco at tho bank of £7 2s. 3d.

;> POST AND TELEGRAPH RIFLES. . , Somo volunteer companies are at :■ present experiencing'a l difficulty in obtaining recruits, bxit that this; state .jf affairs does not exist in ■ the Post ' and Telegraph Rifles' is evidenced, by the fact that ; no'less than 17 re-, cnifts .wero- enrolled at last .Friday, evening's parade:' Although. there is' a-regulation in the: postal service; making it compulsory, for. •every cadet, to serve in the volunteers, each one of the 17 enrolments was voluntary.. In view of the_ coming -Easter manoeuvres ; Lieut. Collins delivored an interesting and instruc-tive-lecturo 'to tho non-commissioned ..officers' on "Outpost Duty." It is anticipated that tho comnany will:have 60 men fully equipped at tho Easter manoeuvres.' At next Friday's ■ parado a meeting will ba held for thepurposo' of electing a subaltern to . fill the ' vacancv caused'by.the transfer of Lietit. Roacho' to' tho Wellington . Guards. l ''' ■ SHOOTING MATCH. KARORI RIFLE; CLUB v. - BATTALION. ■ In addition to and in conjunction with tho teams', match, "Volunteers v. Rifle Clubs," to.be fired",at Trentham. on Saturday next, a match will bo - arranged between teams, of 15, men a side,'representing the Karori Rifle Club and the. Wellington Riflo Battalion. : -Tho Karori. Club's team is as follows:— , Itiflonien W. Jackson, W. Judd, W. Aston; fl. Bulford, C.. Hodder, J. Rabe, H. Marshall,. J. Burns, J. Greenwood, A. Franco; -W. Komp, -and ,W. Ilanlis. ; Emorgonoies—A. . Guise and G;. Chapman. ' ; 'i. ..-Tn'6 : .big : teams match is exciting .keen interest in > shooting ciroles."' Tho'. Volunteer team: is selected!from, a'total .strength of -i 1100 mon, while'that of 'tho Riflo Club men' ' is. drawn from a 'strength' of; 100. This 1 is tho i first occasion tho local. Garrison and the Riflo Clnb men have tried coriclu'/ons, .and, iu all probability; the contest will become an annual one. ;> : -v , ; '" DAILY MAIL " EMPIRE DAY ; MATCH. . i The following entries lmvo, so far, been ' received for ( -/_the, ;,'-Daily Mail '.'.'Empiro.'Day. ; MatchShHsthhtirch' V'olunlcbP-Rifli)"' Asso- ■] ciatiou, Christ'ch'urcH' "'Clubs' Associa-tißi)] Sb'vlthland "Volunteer Riflo "Assp-; L ciation,, .Baftki s' 3 Tenin¥urA l ' ! Dfife&co l ' i ?Riflo r '•{ Clubs'.' Association', and the' Waikino;'Opaki,Taradaloj and -Alfredtdn Rifle 1 Clubs..' J r;-;!;- v.".- r • -'m- ■■■ ,1