DEFENCE NOTES.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 569, 26 July 1909, Page 11

DEFENCE NOTES.

■■■; ■■■ ■-< » — ..V' (Bv Echelon.) ■ /rho London 'Times'" military correspondent, in concluding his .lengthy series of. reviews on tho position and prospects,ol the- Territorial rForco, observes "It appears to bo a legitimate conclusion from this review that tho Territorial Force, despite .growing-pains, ..is in a • sound and healthy couditiou. The administration is good, and the cost is less than t"° S! ™ which we.'might legitimately .devoto to tlio purpose for .which a Second Lino exists, lto- : Minting is satisfactory, quality the. whole, armament'almost complete, while .the organisation meets. .with ; general. -approval. Defects which still exist, and must necessarily exist in such a largo orgamsa- ; tion'after a single'year's experience, appear capable of remedy; without difficulty. Jjivcn tact, patience,- and - untiring porsisanco, . there is iio reason why.the Territorial Force, within the limits of its numbers' and its. training, should not fully respond, two years hence,,to tlio mast'. hopeful anticipations. The i shortage 'of officers, about 3600, is seriously engaging the attention of tho authorities, iana special moans are being taken .(such as one year's' service .in the Regular Army): to increase tho reserve of officers. - According ■ to "National Defence for June tho present shortago is as under: . OviS • . Establish- Num--7!: ■ ■ ment. . bers. Regular Army (less India) '..i . 7i595 7,416 Reserve'of'Officers.-..; . ... ••• . J.OJjj Special Reserve — . •••• ~i'?i? Territorial Forco ... ... 11,267 . 9,000 The'following figures show how many officers of-tlie various arms are availablo for service in the expeditionary unitsr-. ... •< • • Res. of Sp 1. • - Army Of'c's Res. Cavalry 562 384.^37, Horse and Field Artillery... /16- 166, 2(5 Garrison' Artillery ... ..... 674 208 29 Foot Guards ... ... ; 274 .132 ~~ Infantry -1' : 3,082 1,607 .1,530 Other arms .... . ... . 2,108 593 47 ' 7,416 3,090 1,918 . ■ " i".' * ■ . : ■ ■■ . . Sir John .French .(Inspector-General of the Forces), addrossmg. tho. Oxford .University Officers'• Training Corps : recently, said that the supply of officers had been the greatest difficulty confronting the military administrators for many ' years, : and., prior ;to the advent of Mr. Haldane the problem had never been, solved. No, one Knew . better, than ; statesmMi/hpTV. essential, were .tho highest /education, training, aiid. intellect to those who iwero called-, upon; to. lead their felJoy' med'in- war. Mr. Haldane,'.-.therefore,■ •appealed-to :the-great centres in the counstry,- where those attributes ■ were mostly, developed; and the answer, was eminently satisfactory,-. because/he .believed at. the. present .moment; throughout the. country tho;.Officers' Training Corps . • numbered' -nearly; ■ 17,000. TO(Bj;.swere^.:M- ; .c6.uirae r tho first place to .supply a- reserve xo . meet the waste of war/ They should also .'provide' officers; for.!the Special. Reserve, and he thought tho. Territorial. Army would look to. the . corps for a certain number 'of officers. "If the army is;a .fighting >maohine, tlioh . itj iniist'bo a That) however, does not mean that all tho individuality of the soldier is to be machined out. [ Officers must liavo initiative resourcefulness i and individuality. The main object of this I school is to ensure uniformity, amongst all i tho officers of the instructional staff. Besides this,-the instructional course, in which- • men from all over tho State rub shoulders with each other, will help to dovelop the camaraderie of the army. In theso words i..(reports: -an'', Australian contemporary), the Minister for Defence summed up the. reasons -for holding, a school for the instructional staff officersat Victoria Barracks, Syd'noy, the other day. He said that he would assist; to tho fullest extent to mako tho- Australian Army perfect for war, even in these piping times of peace. The army;-however, was-to | 'a gr'eat 'oxtent'-what the officers made it. - A' now departure ho. intended to mako was the 'establishment of an academy whence could bo .'issued '.iristructiohd 'to;. make - the. army tho very best; equal to any. other army that was likely to.como against it... r -; The wholo of tho administrative and instructional staff from all oyer tho State was in ■ attendance (a -parade? stato'of 100 per cent;)., Tho proportion of officers .was • —1 brigadier-general, 2 - lieutonant colonels, 5 majors, 6 captains, 9 lieutenants,. 15 warrant ! officors, ;68 staff sergeants. In opening .the school, General Gordon expressed his igratificationvat -the splendid muster, and said- he hoped tho present courso would result in the whole of tho instructional staff receiving a uniform'training in conformation with tho latest military - regulations. : The -.chief, subject would bo the now course of musketry to ue introduced throughout tho: Commonwealth military. forces. This was tho most important work- of. the year, and after,, this course the officers should return to their; regiments thoroughly vprsed in their duties. . Apropos;■ of the recent: cable ;that; "Armstrong's" had oommenced to design the longpromised gun-mountings, an engineer - from somo'^of-the great ship and gun-building, 'yards of'the North of England, who was interviewed in;;. Sydney/: tho other-' day, :. remarked: — : • ... .'-J; -s ■ "It would give you: somo idea 'of tho<size or.the : ;.works 'tliat go in for malting these big gun-mountings'.'if. : you-realise that the':: yard iat.: Armstrong's ; is' aboutthree.' mileslong .by' of. a mile wide. We mislaid a 12m. gun there once—nobody could find it.- Fellows, came into the; diop asking • 'Has anyone seen a 12in. gun f It turned np after a whilo on a siding: ", It had got shunted there and had been lost track of. They wont batter than that once. - They mislaid a battleship. She was built for some South- Amoi'ican Republic, I believe, but it went bankrupt before she was, delivered, and couldn't' stump up for. her. So sho was moored down the .river to wait until a .'buyer turned up. : But when inquiries did. oomo and fhey went'-toiget-her. tiiey couldn't find .her. : : People were running all over tho place, asking where a small American battleship had bflen put. It 'turned out after she was moored seme of the; authorities' had come along. and' shifted her. At.least, I ;that's the,' story.- .1 wasn't :in the yard then, so I can't vouch for it. But I heard them asking for llio l2in. gun myself. That will give you an idea of tlie'size of tho. great business which make big gun-mountings. I suppose in all th«ir .works; Armstrong's normally, employ abdut : 50j000 :meh. ; That .is more, thanv Vick-: orS, Maxim, but not as many as Krupps." ■ Tho boy scout movomont., initiated by Lieut.-Geii Baden-Powell littlo more than a .'yod/fMago;''. has : made such progress . that its strcrigtli is now .130,000. The Uhurch .Lads', Boys', : and Jewish Boys' Brigades have recently .-agreed 1 officially to adopt l the..:' boy BooufcaVlir.es, :which will add another.-120,000. to ! the strength,. making.; it about 250,000; in. .. -V-' r ', : V.': '. : A team of eight men of H.M.S., Pembroke, shooting ili?a competition against a team of the Royal Marino Light Infantry, Chatham,, at Barton's Point Rifle Range, Sbeerness, made a total scorc of. 803 points at 300, 500, and 600 yards, tho highest i»ssiblo aggregate being 840, and the: .average per - man 100 3 This is believed to* bo a world's rp r cord in similar conditions. : :