DEFENCE NOTES.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 229, 20 June 1908, Page 15

DEFENCE NOTES.

(Br Echelon.) - Secretaries of Corps and /. Rifle Clubs are invited to contribute items -of interest for insertion .in this column. SPECIAL RESERVE CORPS, i. In tEo columns The Dominion of Juno 17, there appoared soma.. reference to tho reissue, by tho Council of Defenco, of certain regulations relativo to the establishment of special reservo corps, gazetted in May, 1907. This scheme, a Tory important one, appears either to havo been ororlooked, or its valuo not fully appreciated.. It is a schemo-which should appeal both to ex-Volunteers, and members of corps, the strength of which has falleii below tho standard limit" fixed by regulation. Tho oonditions attached to tho formation of special reserve'eorps are, briefly, . that four parades must bo hold annually, in 'addition to special-parades, such as that required by the Inspcctor-Gonoral, and mem- : bers earn a capitation of os. They aro entitlod to the same railway conoossions as other Volunteers, the samo allowance of ammunition, And they are allowed to count halfservico towards medals. To men. who aro keon on soldiering, but aro provonted, for private reasons, from following their hobby, tho idea should'possess considerable attrac- ! tion, and it is .to -be hoped that there will not be found wanting the material—-valuable material; for 'ex-Volunteers' are trained men —for the formation 'Of- such corps. There is plenty of such material in Wellington, and all that is required is a little initiativo on the part of a few enthusiasts—the others will .follow. . THE STORY OF THE VOLUNTEERS. With the establishment of the British Ter-, ritorial Army bogins a now epoch in the history of tho Imperial Forces. .. Tho Volunteer has gono, and into his placo has stepped a fighting unit who has by tlie facetious been ■ dubbed tho " Volunterrier," tho "Terrier," and the, "Last Ditcher." • ' Details' of, the new'organisation ' pearcd'Jfrom'/time to tim'e in the weekly ' 'Defence Notes" of 'I'm Dominion. By uio end of the nresent month it will have been set • up, ■well;or;jll, on its feet, and the opportunity conveniently presents itself for a brief historical sketch of the force which it has superseded. ' ,' ' The Volunteer Force, now dofunct. was called into'existence by a War Office Circu-' lar, dated -May 12, 1859, which authorised thd Lords-Lieutenant of Comities to accept the services of Volunteers. in corps of Hi liemen not, exceeding a hundrod in strength, and if Artillerymen not exceeding eighty. ' There wero already two small battalions of Volunteers in existence, tho Exeter and South-Devon Hides, formed in 1852, and tho i Victoria-Rifles formed in 1854 tha t: tho ; Volunteer Corps of 1859 were, limited to tho 'small numbers moriti6ned was duo to tho ' official military belief that > tho men .could never be anything-more than hedgerow soldiers hanging on to tho skirts of. an enemy, ' •and certainly not capable'of taking their place-in'battle formation, as it was under- ' stood in the days before long rango rifles ■ and • quick-firing breech-loaders were introduced. It was, indeed, confidently assert- ; ed , that Volunteers, could not pass beyond company to battalion exercises. The men or their friends had to provide everything at thoir own cost—rifles, 'ranges, ammunition, mostly too, paying the drill instructors. Things were wisely, if not in-, tontionally, left to develop in their own way, and with a good ; deal of onthusinsm abroad they.- developedrapidly. 11l many places, and espfecially>,in London __and the big tho captain first commissioned en- { rolled irion boyoiid tho 1 ntimbers-officially al- J lowed,,','and so IjcompanioSf:,speedily, becamo' battalions, and bfc'gan Srpljng as.-such. Then 'the authorities concede#'.'th?;ba'tt(\lipn organ-,'; isation where tho numbers wore .sufficient, ; whilst elsewhere tho'.-company. organisation | was And now began the system of'national'assistance, in tho shape of a supply of arms," at first to the extont only of giving rifles in-the proportion of half tho strength of a corps. Later the responsibility .'of armament was taken over ■by the Government, with tliej result that-the bulk of the Volunteers were armed ' with worn-out muzzle-loading Eilfields up to' tho ;time when thoy. received ths ; Snider breechloader in the : early seventies. : . ../ ....V, , . But long ero this some other important concessions had been.made. ~ Tho men of the early days who:could afford to spend ten pounds or moro;W clothingand • rifle, and find money for: other expenses, also began to' drop ' off; ' arid!' v tlio'.-'rich: men who had found tho.: .funds;.'for, ..equipping the poorer Volunteers began to tire of, doing • what they saw-was-tho,nation's duty..., The Government had already begun to pay. tho adjutants and drill-instructors, and an • al- ' lowanco for ammunition .for. target practice'' was • Bfit, tho isiirties 1 had not gone' : very.far before commanding officers, realised-; that' volunteering, could 'riqt be made'self- ; supporting. Theforking l man ■ had .-.now ■ come very strongly Hntoj the force, but ho could give littlo Jnoro* than, his time anc] ser- ' vice. So Government'approved, as an export . ment, thai twenty,; shillings, should be paid ; for every Volunteer": who had 'performed in ; the year nine company" or battalion drills'and ! attended inspection.-.;;'This 'was tho'beginning : of the capitatioii' grant system, made permit-. . ncnt after tho.first experiment. Throe or four years later>jit additional 10s. was'added ; for men who:had attained "a specified and', by no moans difficult standard' in 'nuiskotry; : and later stilly it b'eing palpablo that a soldier who could drill,' but not shoot,,was of:small ! valuo, '.tho 20s.'qualification wtis abolished; ; and only tho 30s. efficiency' recognised, ■ later ■ on to be raised .t0 : 305.,V ; ': ■'. As ; the 'years'',.wont; cm i.; and; the. ■■mp'noy. grant increased,..more . recruit Straining l and added drill attendancofwero required ; but tho ; Volunteers always; acquiesced readily' in the gradually increased- demands:' -made -upon ■ them. Much improvbment : was : brought about as-the old adjutants 'were replaced by'officers' : direct from tho Regular'Army,'and'by the pensionbr-iiistru'ctors giving, place, to' Regular 1 non-commissione4: .'officers.. ;,lp!;'tli'i3; way 'the • Armv and tho Volunteers ;jv'cre. brought into' touch, and thoVlattor soon looked to th'o : former for thoC>ideal' :to .which thoy must aspire. The qijality pf tho. Volunteer officor " and sergeant, was by'this .means-much .enhanced, and also'by tho introduction of their 60s. "proficiency" grant: 'The .association of \ olunteers with. ißegulars in. oamp .and at . manoeuvres gradually increased tho'general : efficiency; tho small and scattered company corps were/consolidated into battalions; anil for srsio' years now all havo been associated in permanent brigades,, the .stcpping-stone to the divisonal organisation , now to bo completed in the Territorial Force.' ■So endeth the Volunteer, bringing national service nearer. Tho Africa General Servico.Medal ("Outposts of Empire"), with clasps, will bq issued to the'forcos who servod in operations in East AfriAa in 1002, 1904, 1905, and 1906, under 'Lieutenant Haycock, Captain Dickinson, Major -Popo'-Hennessey, Captain Jenkins, Captain Hudkiiij Lieutenant Chapman, and Lieutenant Wolsoley. .'. Experiments aro being carried out in Eng. land with star shells to discover thoir valuo for lighting up a targot .at night. At present tho . illumination shows up both firor and target,,and' a shell is to bo devised which will " flaro" over tho target only, and so givo rango and aim without revealing tho position of a battery. A now mounting has been devised, and is being tostcd, for tho Maxim gun; reports a Homo paper. It is a tripod whioh is easily managed, and allows the gun to bo carried comploto. on a muls. bo quito inconspicuous when placed among trees, behind cultivation, or in bushes and on rough land: Properly placed it cannot bo picked up with the naked eye. Tho uso of this mounting will reduce .tho gun detachment by .one-half.