THIS TERRITORIALS SOME CAMP DETAILS.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXV, Issue 46, 24 February 1913, Page 7

THIS TERRITORIALS SOME CAMP DETAILS.

The coast defence troops, who had been in camp at the forts and at Trentham for the previous week, came into town on Saturday. The- D Battery had been on trek from Trentham to Waikaoae and back, the Garrison Artillery were encamped at Forts Dorset, Ballance, and Kelburne, and the sth Regiment of infantry had fceen under canvas at Trentham. Owing to the gttns of the D Battery having been sent Home recently some difficulty was experienced in finding suitable work for that unit. It was finally determined to «end them on a march to Waikanae and back, with full equipment, so as to give them experience in the handling Of mules and other phases of practical soldiering — minus, of course, the guns. They got it. They were on the march daily from Sunday morning to Friday evening, carrying the whole of their equipment on fifty-six pack animals, and sleeping in tents every night after a day's work which was agreeably, hard, and brought all but a few tender-footed ones back to camp in splendid condition. The trek was regarded as highly satisfactory, and the instruction^ given on the march was of the greatest importance to all rank, who were very favourably reported on by Major Petherick, tho officer commanding, on bis return. ' " Tho work done by the Garrison Artillery was excellent. It comprised ordinary driU with the guns, fort-manning, electric lignt duties, and target practice ; and as a test of the efficiency of tha troops, Friday was devoted to" a scheme of attack and defence outlined by the Coast Defence Commander (Colonel G. F. C. Campbell). At 9 a.m. the enemy's cruiser, represented by the Janie Seddon, towing a Hongkong target, appeared off Palmer Head, and as she went up the harbour the guns from the forts used the targets for battle practice at varying ranges up to about 4000 yards. Although the details of tho snooting h&ve not yet been criticised and examined, it is anticipated that during the run ot the Janie Seddon's targets from Palmer Head to Lowry Bay very lew rounds were fired that would have missed a target of the size of an ordinary cruiser. The operations of the sth Regiment against the enemy in the vicinity of Haywards have already been the subject of reference. The country over which the operations were carried out was open, cleared bush land, with a considerable number of obstacles, such' as scrub, fences, stumps, logs, and so on, all of which afforded excellent cover and represented the ordinary rough style of country that the troops in this Coast Defence area would probably have to operate in time of war. The exercises, which were witnessed in part by the Commandant (Major-General {jtodley), were very satisfactorily carried out, and the men were complimented by the Commandant on the willingness arid intelligence displayed by everybody concerned. The Commandant also made a very close and critical inspection of the men during the progress of the operations, and he subsequently inspected tha entrenching work that had' been carried out at the camp. On Saturday the different units struck camp and came into town. Tho Garrison Artillery from Forts Dorset and Ballance returned by steamer, and those from Fort Kelburne and the D Battery by train in the early afternoon. The men of the sth Regiment reached Lambton Station by train at 5 p.m., and headed by the regimental band, marched to the Garrison Hall in Buckle-street, where they were dismissed. The march was witnessed by a large number of the public, and it was generally agreed that the men looked all the bejtter for their week's camp, while their general behaviour was good and the marching excellent. Throughout the discipline at all the camps was excellent, and there was only one rift in the lute during the whole of the training. In the camp at Trentham two men persuaded some of their comrades to refuse to ford the Hutt river at Trentham on Friday, When the ford was reached about twenty men hung back, and they were promptly sent back to Trentham. and dealt with in the ordinary way by their officers the following morning. The two ringleaders were fined the amount of their camp pay, and the remainder, who expressed great regret for their action, were fined lesser sums. An interesting feature of the camp was the Y'.M.C.A. marquee, which was equipped with reading and writing material and apparatus for social enjoyment, including a piano kindly supplied •by the Continental Piano Company. The facilities provided wero fully taken advantage of and were greatly appreciated by ll»e men.

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