OUR ARTILLERY.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 303, 16 September 1908, Page 8

OUR ARTILLERY.

NOT "ABSOLUTELY READY FOR WAR." INTERESTING'REPORT. STATE EMPLOYEES ARE THE WORST ' . ATTENDERS. , , The annual report'by Captain G. S. Richardson, Chief Instructor of Artillory Services, on the. progress and condition of tho field . and garrison artillery corps in New Zealand ■is a comprehensive and highly interesting reviow. .' ' ■ ■ General Efficiency. ' During..the...past,'..year, Captain Richardson states, the records of the field and garrison f artillery volunteers show that considerable progress has'bqen ' mado in both efficiency, and. shooting,. an. improvement entirely due to the keenness of all ranks, the" ;amount'of time devoted to training, and to • the valuable instruction .given by the Royal New Zealand'; Artillery. . "There -are, .however," says Captain . Richardson, " many difficulties in connection ■with "tho" training of the artillery forces up to tho standard liow' aimed at, and as a result of these ;,they cannot be considered thoroughly efficient,- although it is probable that the artillery volunteers throughout tho -Dominion were never more , efficient than they are now. While,, however, this standard ,of 'efficiency, is, very creditable, much remains to be dono in the way of organisation, system of training, , and equipment, ; ' beforo : absolute readiness for war"'' can be ' assured. The constant changes of personnel in some units seriously interfere with training and prevent progress; from year to,'year, as a very largo percentage'.of men'leave after one year's service, far. too short a timo to train a gunner to a--reasonable standard of efficiency. In tho garrison artillery the men remain in tho servico for a longer period than in tho field artillery, and consequently reach a rela-tively-higher standard of efficiency: I attach great importance to this question, as ■most' companies of garrison artillery throughout' tlio' Dominjon have shown that a high standard can be attained by volunteers if only the men can be induced to remain in the 'service' for "several years. The best .companies are thoso which havo a full complement' of'experienced officers, and are com--posed of .men of several years' servico. If it wero not for the high standard of intelligence which, the average volunteer possesses, it would bo. impossiblo to do the amount of good work that is done by some units with such .largenumbers of partially-trained men in the ranks. - Some scheme is required which will ensure men remaining in the ser- , Vice for. at least three years."

Recruiting. , \ There : still" a' difficulty in recruiting in nearly-all/the. districts; and at tho present time no battery or company in the Dominion is, up' to "its ' establishment. In Auckland, where there "are three companies of garrison artillery, there'-is ,very.'great difficulty in getting recruits." In Wellington the difficulty is not so-great, but in Lyttelton, owing to the limited population,,.it is practically .impossible ■ for officers commanding companies to recruit -up to strength, The same applies to Port: Chalmers. ."There is- little difficulty in recruiting .in' Dun'edifi,' where there is only one-company' of -garrison artillery (No. 1 Company)—-the : strongest company in the Dominion. At | W?sti>ort r and Nelson it is 'also 1 found! impossible' toy recruit up to. tho establishment;;'""There; is' a total deficiency in the establishment"' of " garrison . artillery throughput "New" 616. Tho Employers' Point of View. In order to get efficiency, continues the chief instructor, regular attendance at drills throughout the year is. ; most essential. The at the annual training camps ■was-abbut 9u per.;;icent'.,/of tho enrolled strength, while at the Easter encampment, when all ranks were paid, it was only GO per cent. During tho.u'winter. months the attendance in some cases ha 3 not been very satisfactory. Those ../units which obtained the best-results in tile-examinations for efficiency have had :good-attendances throughout..the year. Some men, however, have I-great.-difficulty;-} in "getting permission from their .employersto:/attend parades and crimps;'of, instruction,".whilo in other eases, notably'.in. Dunedin, there are firms which have rgiven-special' facilities to their employees/to 'attends' The'-'worst attonders in the. .artilllery: employees,'.such as Post' and Telegraph cadets, who are compelled-to-serve in the volunteers, but .who can rarely, be'relied upon to attend parades. They are 'not 1 ' keen and enthusiastic,, and therefore not-"'good volunteers. If employers' -would 'encourage their employees by giving'them l facilities for attending drills, there': would be- little difficulty in maintaining an efficient'voluntfeer'artillery force. No doubt there aro_ difficulties from the' employers''point of view,-which also probably I accounts--; for-the'Government employees beirig. reported as' unscitisfiifctory attenders. Dearth of Officers. : - The. selection of. suitable officers is of vital importance, and.it lVia regrettable fact that those who ,are abk,and .willing to serve aro to'o.lfQw i to'; meet ..'the.;, requirements. jThe 'ai'tilWry, officers,..are.-.almost, without exception kee,a, enthusiastic, and efficient. They devote far more timo to-learning their duties as soldiers than . the, , public realise, in addiwhich tho . amount of time involved in the administration of their commands is very■ great. "The only, reward those.officers hope 'for.'.is,', to seo their .commands efficient. This is,,indeed„truo patriotism.. One serious drawback' to. getting good officers is. the initial outlay involved in the purchasing of. uniforms.' . In .'somo-.units the officer's uniform ,is. paid for jOut of capitation funds, but as an officer's capitation is on tho same scale as that of ; the men, the expense to the unit is far in excess of the money received for officer's capitation. In most, cases officers ' purchase, . their, own uniforms, and aro ■ involved in considerable expense. This could be overcome by an "outfit allowance" being made -to officers on joining, or by increasing the capitation for officers in proportion to their length of service and proficiency, when there would be no objection to officers' uniforms ■ being provided out of company funds; The chief cause of good officers leaving the service is that they find themselves iinablo to'devote tho necessary timo to tho work. " I have never yet," says Captain Richardson, •" met tho officcr. who complained of, the time devoted to drill, training, camps, or instruction of any kind; many willingly sacrifico money and pleasure in order to attend parades. It is tho amount of time ho has 'to" devoto to administrative work

in connection "with' official correspondence, returns, -etc., ; that the officer objects jects : to. ; niost of this work being done by him in his.business hours. During tho past year'sergeants-major of tho Royal New Zealand Artillery have been appointed to act as divisional sergeants-major to relievo officers commanding division's, and so ensure correct rendering of returns. Each officer commanding a field battery (excepting at Nelson) is'also assisted by a sergeant of tho Royal Now Zealand 'Artillery; Officers commanding garrison ■ artillory companies have, however, been in no way relieved; and I recommend that similar' assistance bo given them. The Physique of the Artillerymen. Tho personnel of both branches is without exception good., In .the field artillery tho men .are : v,ery young, but their intelligence is of-,such a high standard that they quickly learn. In the garrison .artillery thoracis less difficulty in getting men to remain for somo years in tho service, with the result that their efficiency is more easily maintained. Officers, however, have difficulty in recruiting their companies ui> tp full strength with men of good' physique. 1 "' Thero has been noted very poor physique in some recruits; in &nme

instances they are not even examined by a medical officer, as to their fitness for service. Training. Several improvements in the system of training have beon introduced during the past year with good results. These aro: — (1) The working out of tactical schemes in coast defence by officers commanding divisions, and tactical exercises by officers commanding batteries. Tho best tactical solution was that- submitted by Lieutenant- . Colonel Allen,' Officer Commanding tho Otago Divsion. Those 'by Lieutenant - Colonel Cooper . and Lieutenant - Colonel Campbell wero also very good. (2) Tho carrying out of " battery rides" by oflicors and non-commissioned officers of field batteries in order to work out tactical oxorcises in tho field. This training is most valuable, as field batteries get far too little work in the .field —a defect which can, however, be partly overcome by frequently carrying out "battery rides." (3) Battle practico by garrison artillery. This practice was carried out at Easter under more difficult conditions than tho ordinary class-firing. . (4) Night-firing practice by garrison artillery. This important practico was introduced only at Wellington during the Easter manoeuvres, with excellent It is hoped that it will shortly be carried out throughout the Dominion. (5) The writing of essays on military subjects. Tho best paper was written by Lieutonant A. A. Grace, "H" Battery. Reserves. There is practically no organised reservo for the artillory service, a matter which requires ■ attention. ' Tho mobilisation during tho Easter manoeuvres ,revealed tho neces-' sity for more men, which will have to bo furnished by either a trained reserve, or an increase in the establishment and strength of artillery unit's throughout thovDomiuion. Cadet Companies. During tho past year provision has been made for artillery cadet companies to bo trained in artillery work and attached to artillery, divisions. This is working satisfactorily in Lyttleton,. and is a scheme which it is hoped will, during the ensuing year, extend throughout the artillery service.