DEFENCE NOTES

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 220, 13 June 1936, Page 7

DEFENCE NOTES

News of Rank and File

COURSE FOR OFFICERS

(By

Liaison.)

A course of instruction for officers offering themselves for the forthcoming promotion examinations is to be held at Trentham. The course starts on August 1 and ends or. August 8. Tactical problems will be the main feature of the course. Major A. E. Conway will be iu charge of the course and he will be assisted by Captain A. Bongard, M.C., and Captain G. C. McCaskill. The examination for promotion for which the course is being held, takes place in August. Officers will be accommodated in huts at Trentham for the six days that the course lasts.

Annual Inspection. The General Officer Commanding, Major General Sir William Sinclair Burgess, K.8.E., C. 8., C.M.G., D. 5.0., held an inspection of all the artillery units iu the Wellington district. The inspection took place in the Garrison Hall on Wednesday. About 150 officers and other ranks were present. At the conclusion of the inspection the General Officer Commanding expressed his entire satisfaction with the artillery personnel. The parade was commanded by’ Lieutenant-Colonel Fenton. For the next few weeks artillery units as well as other units enter the annual no-man’s land that divides one training season from another. The new training season starts in July. Preparations are now being made to ensure that the training during the next season will be organised so as to give every individual the best possible instruction.

Imperial Defence. Lieutenant-Colonel Puttick, D. 5.0., will leave by the Mataroa early in July for England. On arrival he will attend a course as a student at the Imperial Defence College. It is understood that the course lasts about IS months. Lt.Colonel Puttick is at present quartermaster general at General Headquarters, Wellington. In the war old soldiers will remember that lie commanded the 2nd and 4th Battalions New Zealand Rifle Brigade in France.

New Plymouth News. Competition for the Guard Mounting Cup, presented by- the Ven. Archdeacon G. H. Gavin, C.F., for the platoon mounting the best guard in the Ist Battalion The Taranaki Regiment, was completed last week. The final placings were: No. 1 Platoon (“A” Support Company), New Plymouth, Sergt. C. C. Lobb, guard commander, 1; No. 9 Platoon (Tarlki), Sergt. T. Wright, guard commander, 2; No. 5 Platoon (Waitara), Sergt. H. St. George, guard commander, 3. Nine platoons competed and the work attained was of a high standard. The judges for the competition were Lieut.-Colonel F. S. Varnham, M.C., and Capt. F. L. Hunt, N.Z.S.C. One point only separated the first and second guards.

Capt. H. J. Keys, of the Ist Battalion Taranaki Regiment, is being transferred to Warkworth, North Auckland, and next Monday night he will be tendered a farewell by the officers of the regiipent. In 1918 Capt. Keys registered as a 'cadet at the Palmerston North High School. In June, 1922, he iwas posted to the 2nd Battalion Wellington Regiment, and later in the same year transferred to the Nelson, Marlborough and West Coast Regiment, where he stayed till 1929, when he was promoted to'lieutenant. In March, 1929, foe went to the Waikato Regiment, and later in that year transferred to the Ist Battalion The Taranaki Regiment When the present system commenced he was appointed assistant adjutant, and in February, 1932, he was promoted captain. In 1934 foe .was appointed quartermaster, which appointment lie now holds. Capt. Keys has taken an active interest in all matters connected with the Taranaki Regiment, and all ranks will be sorry that he is leaving the regiment. Sanctions and Naval Action.

The British Navy, with or without the support of other European Powers, could, at -the request -of the League, have denied

the Italians access to the entrance of the Suez Canal (says “The Fighting Forces"). This would effectively have strangle! operations in Abyssinia and brought about the end of the war by starving Italian troops of food, munitions and other necessities. Naval action power could also have been used to enforce oil or mineral sanctions against Italy. The chief objection to enforcing naval sanctions was that in the absence o f active French support; the bulk of the work would have fallen on the navy Oi Great Britain, whose action would have been considered on the Continent as. arro. gant and imperialistic. The majority of European nations willing to enforce sanctions would have had but little part to play iu the collective plan. Active Frenrii naval support, which was essential to immediate success, was doubtful. The naval action under contemplation would undoubtedly have been regarded by Italy as a hostile act— battleships and aircraft escorting transports would have immediately come into conflict with the British Navy, and naval warfare would have spread throughout the Mediterranean. This would have jeopardised the safety of Malta and all vessels coming within the effective range of shore-based aircraft. The Navy would have been exposed to a severe risk that was not justified, though the ultimate Issue would never have been in doubt.