ARMY TRAINING

Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 77, 28 September 1938, Page 15

ARMY TRAINING

EVOLUTION TRACED

STRIVING AFTER SPEED

Ever since man first went to was he had tried for greater speed with; which to outwit his foes, Major E. H. Whiting said when addressing members of the Wellington Returned Soldiers' Association. at luncheon today. Major Whiting stressed the need for men to operate the machinery used by a modern army. Everyone present knew something about military training, Major Whiting said, but he was going to talk about the evolution of military trainnig. There had. always ,been. a striving for greater. mobility. First the horse was used and cavalry was evolved. At the battle of Hastings bowmen took first place-, the infantry came next, and mounted knights formed the third line, and the age of mounted men in armour was well launched. Then gunpowder was discovered and firearm's altered! the training of troops. It was hot until about 1870 that "digging-in" became necessary to combat the effectiveness of artillery. The Boer War saw artillery, infantry, - and mounted troops in the field and the various services were developed. During the last century military tactics did riot change materially until steam was developed for transport and the telegraph improved communications. Between, the Boer War and the Great War the internal-combus-tion engine was developed and army tactics had to be completely..altered. Early in the Great War the aeroplane was not used offensively- except, wheit pilots fired- revolvers at one another. As the war progressed wireless signalling was used and the air forces became more effective. At the same time the infantry went back to older military custom arid used the trench mortar. THE ARMY ON WHEELS. In the closing stages of war tha army got on to wheels and the campaign became a. war oa wheels, and since the v .• years all preparations had beer ' .ards a war of movement. Tank- anti-tank guns had been. dr. ., and as aeroplanes-became anti-aircraft equipment was . ./ved. .■...';.-, ■ j.oday the infantry was equipped with rifles, light machine-guns,' rifle grenades, and Mills bombs, and the aim was to make each unit self-contained and mobile. The artillery was equipped with pneumatic tyres and* could travel at twenty-five miles an hour. Everything had been speeded up so much that marching infantry was out of date and the infantry would go to the front in motor vehicles. As military science had developed a higher standard of intelligence was called for. Training had become -more interesting, and the only thing that was wrong was that the youngCmen of today were not offering themselves for service. This morning Mr. Chamberlain had appealed for men,- but even if every young man offered for service how were they to be trained for service if a war started on Saturday? In moving a vote of thanks to the I speaker, Captain M. S. Galloway, M.C., said that while he knew all returned soldiers were praying war would not develop he knew New Zealand could produce a first-class army if the need arose.