BRONZED AND FIT

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 131, 30 November 1939, Page 14

BRONZED AND FIT

SPECIAL FORCE MEN

TRAINING AT TRENTHAM

TACTICAL WORK

Looking bronzed and fit, members of the Special Force in the Central District Mobilisation Camp. Trentham, are obviously responding splendidly to the course of physical and military training' they are being put. through, and visitors to the camp, both military and civilian, have. expressed nothing but praise for the, fine bearing of the men and their healthy appearance. Route marching has figured-largely in recent phases of training and the columns of men on foot display, a smartness and spring that is in marked conti'ast to their bearing when they first went into uniform. '

That the men are, enjoying camp life is evident by- v the general good spirits and it is a common • sight to see a battalion of men swinging along the road in the late 'afternoon on their way back to camp after a hard day in the field and singing as. they march.

On Tuesday afternoon the 700 odd men of the 19th Wellington Battalion, who are to leave on Sunday for a fortnight's advanced training at Waiouru, carried out tactical exercises, including a mock battle, at Moonshine HilL In full battle order the battalion left Trentham at 8.15 a.m. to repel a supposed enemy attack from an enemy force landed at Plimmerton and Paremata and known to have struck across ] country via Pahautanui and Moonshine Road. The enemy was represented by a skeleton force dispatched by motor lorry. '•.... In, addition to the main body of riflemen, the battalion included light machine-gun,, anti-tank, rifle, and twoinch and three-inch mortar units and a Bren gun-carrier platoon. During the march out to meet the enemy gas warnings were sounded and the men donned their gas helmets and carried out the necessary manoeuvres. '. '■ -v NOISE OF BATTLE. It had been proposed to occupy; a position known as Mulhern's Bridge, but it was found to, be in, possession of the enemy when the battalion gained the summit of the hill. Blank ammunition was used for the attack which followed, and the rattle of machinegun and rifle fire, punctuated by the sharper explosion of the mortars, gave the attack a realistic atmosphere. Supported by machine-gun fire and 3-inch mortars, two companies ad- i vanced on the left front, and later a reserve company went forward on the right flank to clinch the success gained in the principal attack. ! The signals unit played an important part in the attack by maintaining, tele-j graph communication by land lines between battalion headquarters and' company headquarters throughout the J engagement. Lieutenant-Colonel S. Varnham, M.C., officer commanding, the battalion, was in charge, and the operation was watched by Lieutenant Colone- R; A. Rowe, D.5.0., General Staff Officer, District Headquarters. . The new camp continues to, be a scene of great building activity. A large area south of the tented camp jhas been levelled, excavated, and filled with metal—a treatment similar; to that given the occupied area before the tents were erected. Further accommodation is being provided from day to.day as.ordnance stores are removed from huts in the old Trentham camp.. When the stores, are moved out -carpenters and painters move in to renovate the buildings completely and prepare them for use as sleeping quarters, messes, and-so on. BUILDING PROGRAMME. Work on the camp post office' build- j ing and the V.M.C.A. institute hall is nearing . completion. The V.M.C.A.! staff- has already moved into one wing lof its new^ building, and it is hoped to : transfer the post office from its [present marquee to its permanent home in a few days' time. The post office has been carefully designed to handle efficiently a large volume of business, and will include ample-pub-lic telephone accommodation. At the southern end of the, tented camp a large two-storeyed laundry with interior drying facilities is in course of erection. Other- buildings are to be put up in the institute area for the use of various' bodies who are proj viding social and recreational facili- [ ties for the troops.