'RIFLEMEN FORM!'

Evening Post, Volume LXXXVIII, Issue 50, 27 August 1914, Page 4

' RIFLEMEN FORM!'

WELLINGTON'S EXAMPLE TO REST OF NEW ZEALAND LOCAL COMPANY INSPECTED.

Form, Form, J*Jflenien Form ! Jteady, be ready to nieet the storm ! itifleineu, ififlemen, Kiflemen form ! Tennyson. The riflemen in Wellington City and Suburbs have not been slow to form. Almost immediately upon the outbreak of the .present hostilities in Europe the various clubs banded together and forming themselves into a company 250 strong applied to the Defence authorities for attachment as a reserve company to the sth (Wellington) 'Regiment. The application was immediately granted with the result that the strength of the sth Regiment has now been raised from four companies of 1000 men (the full war strength of an infantry regiment) to five companies of 1250 men, or 250 each. This must be considered as specially satisfactory seeing that the regiment was* so largely drawn upon in order to supply the Advance Guard of the Expeditionary Force, and has been achieved by calling upon the general training section to fill up the gaps and the patriotic action of the rifle clubs. THE MEN AT DRILL. The newly-formed Rifle Clubs' Re-sei-ve, Company paraded in the yard at the Drill Hall, Buckle-street, last evening for inspection by Major-General Sir Alexander Godley, Officer Commanding the New Zealand Defence Forces, who is about to leave for Europe in charge of the Dominion's Main Expeditionary Force. Major H. Marshall, the com •mander of the company, took charge of the parade and put the riflemen through a course of drill in which the men acquitted themselves with credit, considering the rough stony surface and few opportunities they have had of drilling together. Thejr are all trained rifle shots, and are certainly a fine body of men, including as they do many ex-volunteera and a number of ex-South African Coutingenters. GENERAL'S APPRECIATION. x After some half-dozen movements had been executed, the General addressed the men. He said he was very glad indeed to have had that opportunity of inspecting the newly-formed company representing 'the Wellington Rifle Clubs. It had been a great pleasure to him, not only to see such a very serviceable looking body of men, but also to observe how very quickly good, willing, hard work and a determination to do something to qualify themselves for the defence *of their country had enabled them to produce an extremely serviceable organisation. There were many of them who had had volunteer service and, of course, knew the necessity for organisation and the necessity for drill. Perhaps those who had only gone in for training might not have recognised the necessity for it, but he was quite sure that the organisation they were in now would" convince them that in addition to the shooting there was a very great necessity for their \ present organisation and for the drill which he had seen them doing so well considering _ the very short time they had been in training. He was quite certain if they went on as they were doing that not only would they become a very valuable asset for the defence of _ Wellington, should it ever be required, but would also have the organisation and training whereby they could make 1 the utmost of thoir good shooting. He thought it was a very encouraging feature of the present crisis and a very fine example of the soldierly spirit that pervaded the men of the country when they got 250 men, as he had just seen them then,, to go and do the work they were doing. He felt quite sure that the citizens of Wellington were proud of them, and he was satisfied that they would do credit to the sth (Wellington) Regiment, to which they would be attached as a fifth company. "SOMETHING TO STRIVE FOR." General Godley went on to say that, through the sth Regiment, New Zealand, for the first time in its history, had been able to send a regiment across^ the seas. He was very glad to be able to send away the bulk of it as a regiment, and now in the organisation of the Expeditionary ' Force following it they would find that every Territorial Regiment in the country was represented by a company of the same strength they formed there that night. He thought that the whole of the regiments of the New Zealand Citizen Army would be very lucky if they were able to get a fifth or reserve company as good as theirs was. It was something to strive for, and he would recommend it to the Minister of Defence. He could only say how very sorry he was that that would be the last opportunity he would have of seeing them for" some considerable time. He hoped that he would be able to come back to Wellington, where he had spent a very happy time and had received many kindnesses, and nothing would give him greater pleasure than to see the Rifle Clubs' company once more, and seeing it then, as he believed it would be, in a high state of efficiency. He hoped that in th© near future it would be fully clothed and equipped. In conclusion, he wished them all good-bye and good luck. One of the spectators forthwith called for three cheers, but these were not given, Major Marshall promptly! informing the men of his company that there "must be no cheering in the ranks when they were on parade. The General then departed, and the company continued its drill, putting in an excellent night's work. v