THE LAND FORCES

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 115, 18 May 1938, Page 12

THE LAND FORCES

MODERN EQUIPMENT

TERRITORIAL TRAINING

The principles upon which the Government is acting in its endeavours to develop the land forces of the Dominion were fully explained by the Minister. Mr. Jones emphasised that the adequacy of the Territorial Force was not to be estimated, under presentday conditions, by the number of men composing it. He strongly appealed to employers to do. all they could in assisting and encouraging young employees to undergo military training. Following' a report, from the new General Officer Command ;, MajorGeneral J. E. Duigan, said the Minister, it was decided that the land forces should be reorganised in line with what had been done in other parts of the British Commonwealth. As in the case of the Navy and Air Force, legislation was passed for the establishment of an Army Board for the control and administration of the land forces. The establishment was placed on a brigade basis as far as the field force was concerned, and certain units were earmarked as fortress troops for qoastal defence at main ports.

Mechanisation had been taken seriously in' hand. The Government had expended this year £15,000 on Armytype vehicles, which formed a„transport pool in each district. The district pool was augmented by hiring commercial and other vehicles for annual and weekend camps. Motor-cyclist platoons with Lewis guns had been formed on the scale of one to each battalion, and now numbered some 800 keen and enthusiastic members. QUICK-MOVING UNITS. "With the important exception of the horsed mounted rifle regiments," continued the Minister, "the mobile force may there/ore* be said to be fully motorised, and in a short time it will be well on the way towards being mechanised. By this means it possible to provide quick-moving units,* with numerous machine-guns and rifles, in each district, capable of dealing with attack's outside the main ports, and of supporting the fortress troops if necessary. :The organisation, will also enable the necessary expansion to be undertaken, should such a step be required.

"The Army authorities are kept closely posted by the War Office in' London respecting all developments in modern equipment, and the Government is spending considerable amounts in providing armoured machine-gun: carriers, Bren light machine-guns, new-1 pattern mortars, more wireless sets, additional anti-aircraft and coast defence equipment. The delivery of these new weapons is naturally governed by the re-armament programme in England, but a proportion of them and the requisite ammunition will be available this year for training. The cost of the undelivered stores ordered from Great Britain "and Australia by this and the previous Government amounts to some £250,000." * Dealing with the standard of training, the Minister said that selected officers and non-commissioned officers of the Regular Forces were constantly being sent to England, India, or- Australia for courses of instruction. There were now twenty New Zealander officer cadets at the Royal Australian Military College, Duntroon. The Army School of Instruction at Trentham. and the district schools at Narrow Neck, Trentham, and Burnham, established last October, concentrated on Territorial training and covered the whole field. To date 345 officers and 2195 non-com-

missioned officers had undergone sixday courses. The system would ensure thoroughly trained and efficient leaders and instructors if expansion of the forces became necessary. Regarding the special reserve for coast defence and anti-aircraft services, Mr. Jones stated that in the past eight months 224 men had received the initial three months' training and a third batch of 200 had just been enlisted. Out of the 224 men, 60 had since enlisted in the regular forces. LEAVE FOR EMPLOYEES. The Government was giving a lead to employers generally by granting public servants who were members of the Territorial Force 12 days' leave each year on full Departmental pay in which to carry out their military training. The difficult problem of camp attendance would be sglved if every would give at least six days' leave for the purpose, and more, if possible, for district courses of instruction. , A blue uniform, in addition to khaki, was to be issued to the Territorial Force. A regimental funds grant for sporting and recreational facilities was again being made to each unit. Drill halls were being made more attractive and in some cases were fitted with gymnastic apparatus. Other important measures were receiving consideration and an announcement would be made later concerning them.

"Some criticism has been levelled at the numerical strength of our land; forces," said Mr. Jones, "and here I desire to quote some remarks made in the House of Commons about two months ago by Mr. Hore-Belisha, Secretary of State for War, when speaking on the reorganisation of the land forces of Great Britain. 'The strength of the navy was assessed in ships .and not in personnel, that of the air force in, squadrons and not in ground staff. Following this line of thought, the strength of the modern, army was based not on the individual but rather on fire units,. which combined firepower and mobility. Why, alone in the army should heads be counted and fire-power and mobility discounted? The number of men required in each unit was the number needed to. man and serve the weapons, together, with the necessary elements for service, replacement, and administration. Every man above this was an additional target and a strain on the service which had to feed and maintain him, in which he included those diversions from the naval and air forces, which had to protect his passage.' PRESENT STRENGTH. "The present strength of our Territorial Force is 7400, of whom only 41 per cent, have attended camp this year. This, is not a satisfactory attendance, and the Government is anxious to bring about a marked improvement It is interesting to observe that in spite of increase in pay, attendances at camps in Australia last year averaged only 50 per cent. Another 1600 men are required to bring the peace establishment up to its full strength of 9000 of all ranks, and every effort will continue to be made

to obtain them. • "The - Government has satisfied itself that, such an establishment is sufficient in times of peace, but we want physically fit and, mentally alert young men who are prepared to sacrifice some of their leisure. It is not so much a question of numbers as, of obtaining men of the right type, and the physical requirements are well "within the capacity df the average New Zealander. They will be trained to become leaders, that being the main objective of our Territorial Force.

"I think I have shown that the Government, for its part, is prepared to spare neither effort nor expense in its desire to establish a live and efficient force. Its attention will continue to be directed towards this object, and I would welcome .the assistance and co-operation of all sections of the community to bring the Territorial Force up to its full strength and the highest state of efficiency."