MILITARY NOTES.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1097, 8 April 1911, Page 9

MILITARY NOTES.

. —— ... [Edited By ' Ecbelon.] GENERAL GODLEY IN NELSON. ".With.regard to'this year's Bislcy meeting the N.fi.A. give notice that, in "Non-* expert" .All Comer's' competitions neither sighting shots nor practice' shots at tho competitor's own target will bo permitted,. Arrangements will, however, l>o made for , practice shot targets to lie provided near 1 competition targets. And it has been 1 decided' to abolish the pool' old central, l which only came into existence last year, and crcatcd no end ot confusion.

Tho Commandant of the New Zealand, Forces (Major-General-A. .1. Godley, C'.B.)| paid his first visit of inspection ■to tho; Nelson district during tho week, and in- 1 specltd a large muster of;troops of tho cilv'and country, the latter coming ill'by special train. The following was tho, parade slate:— • i IT. Batlery (3 officers) 471 Vr'akatau Mounted ltiiles (2 officers) ... 28; Battalion Staff 6| Stoke liilles (:) officers) 45 ■' Waimca liitlcs (3 officers) Nelson Hides (1 officer)' HI I •'No. i Field Ambulance (1 officer) lII.' •Garrison Band 2Gi Cadets Battalion Staff : ai No. 1 'Company Cadets'(3 officers)'... !il j No. 2 Company Cadets (2 officers) 4fi t No. 3'Company Cadcls (1 officer) .111 Unattached officers"; 12! District Staff ~ 4'

Total 413' After inspection the General addressed' some words of congratulation to tho 1 troops. Be said lie had been impressed before coming to Nelson by tho loyally, of tho men and their keennos in ta'o cause of defence, and so favourable were the reports he had heard that he believed! they were second to none in tho Domin- 1 ion in respect to soldierly spirit, and ho ! sincerely hoped this would be maintained in the future, as the success of tho new: system depended a great deal on the man-' nor in which the duties were entered upon by those who had to serve, and tho encouragement given to the cause by those who were older in it. They were not now volunteers, but were called upon to ren-1 dcr to the Dominion the service to which 1 it was entitled. Itc, congratulated tlirm upon the very excellent muster, for which! lie thanked them, and from what he had been able to see the material was there for tho building up. of a very efficient.; force. He hoped'on some future occa? 1 sion, which would not be long, to:.see them to greater advantage, and that;, was at work'in the field; and in whicli ho felt sure they would acquit'■ themselves well;'

Among the many special committees at present billing al; the War Office, that which is considering the question of re- : organising the [Signalling Service of the Army is Ihe most, important (stales "Mars-," of the "Military Mail"). The experimental 'communication companies Iha t have been tried during brigade and divisional trainings, and on Army manoeuvres, have proved In the authorities that such companies are absolutely needed in modern warfare if the plans d£ a commander-in-chief are to be successfully wcrked out over tho wide area of operations which has been rendered necessary by the use of long- range artillery anil' rifles. Each communication company of. an infantry brigade will, it. is expected, become"'a self-contained and independent unit, under the command of a trained; captain and subaltern, and composed of lirst-class signallers selected after a; severe test trom battalions in the : bri-' gade. The use of 'motor cycles will be-'-cojue more general than in the'past,"and' the company will thus be able to take' up positions very quickly, and save valuable time in gctling into touch .with other portions of an army operating ill tho lield. Communication companies did very useful work during .the last manoeuvres, and pressure has been brought Wisest'!upon tho-War O(lico fr ly;.place \thein upon , a more permanent and Satisfactory basis. ' The report, of the comniittqc will be awaited with interest by Army tignallers, who are, perhaps, the hardest-w.orked individuals in tho service during manoeuvres, for they carry 011 their duties day and night, with very few opportunities, for resting. Some, commanding officers still look upon signalling as a kind of "side-show," and begrudge the taking away of their men from regimental duties, but this attitude is fast dying out. Active .service iinds the in many dangerous and isolated positions, but the value of their services to tho commander of an army in war is immense, even in these days of field tele-' graphs, telephones, aud wireless lele-■ gfaphy. Without efficient methods OFI communication, carried out. by trained' companies of signallers, co-operation between various bodies of troops taking part in the same operations must bo imperfect, and commanders of divisions or brigades experience difficulty in controlling the operations of their commands through lack of proper communication of orders, and an over-excessive reliance upon") tho field telephone. The object, of thn j committee is to reorganise Army signal-, ling, so that this may not occur in fu-' ture operations upon a large scale.