MILITARY AT MATARAE

Evening Star, Issue 15477, 27 April 1914, Page 4

MILITARY AT MATARAE

A COMFORTABLE CAMP. FIRST BRIGADE ATTACK. . ENEMY ENGAGED AND DRWEN IN. [From Oub Ow RB?0»t«B.l MATARAE CAMP, April 25. The wonderful knack that most pecple have- of extracting food for discomfortable imagining from circumstances that give little color for them is, perhaps, not unnaturally exercised in respect of the mihtarv camp at Matatae. For without doubt it IS a late camp in an untrustworthy climate, whose vagaries might well Subject men to hardships to which, in the nature of things, they cannot have been indurated. But as a matter of fact Nature has cordially acquiesced with the stances that made the camp so late, smiling each successive day upon the little amy that lies upon the hither side of the jjreat sombre gorges of the Otago Central. It is a camp whose conditions can stand the jealous inspection of the most anxious •parent, and the bulk of the troops, with lung* full of good oxygen and veins warmed bv the sun, are in the best of health and equable spirits. True, the cool, crisp air of the evening is often by early morning quick with the taste of. frost, but with comfortable quarters within 800 well-pitched tents there is little danger to the healthy type that is representative "of all Arms under canvas at Matarae. At night the camp is at its buoyant •Iwst. Until "lights out" every glimmering tent is pleasantly vocal, gay parties {ingle through the lines amid mild banter, the inspiriting music of the regimental bands mingles oddly with the less orthodox month organ " and concertina, the brightly-lighted canteens supply the needs rf an ever-changing crowd, the institutes ftf the various denominations are filled to capacity, and, in fact, th« camp is a gay land quite mrricious) epitome of townlife. But by 10 o'clock the country has claimed its own spin. The mile-long array of testa glimmers white and quiet under the dome of the sky, and silence is almost unbroken sav« for the stir of the horses In the lines.

The feeding of such an aggregation of men is a duty that requires tie nicest and most exact calculation, and, as -was stated earlier, the services of the finely-equipped Army Service Corps have been a potent instrument in the attainment of the efficiency that admittedly obtains. Hardly Jess potent a factor has been found in the new system that has abolished the old active service one, under which food was cooked in pots and "dixies" suspended flver fires lighted in trenches. Now each regiment has its coofc-honse and its salamander (a New Zealand invention that dees as much cooking as a dozen ordinary hotel ranges, and then some more, for, in addition to cooking 50 joints, it boils SOgal of water, and it burns something less than a bag of Kaitangata coal per diem). Once upon a time there was a camp at Wingatui, where 360 men were under canvas, and the fuel expenditure on that samp was 10 cords of wood and 23 tons of coal. New that quota supplies a camp of 4.000 men, and victual* them well.

brigade attack on mount boss the enemy Dislodged.

On Saturday morning the first big tactical maniwme wae undertaken, and although in actuality it was only an attack by ona brigade, in theory, by the .introduction of details {with red "flags representing so many battalions of each arm), K was a divisional attack as authentic in detail as anything can be authentic tnat dees not actually realise the conditions of war. The attack was conceived upon these Enes: On Saturday morning information was received thai a hostile force, whose' est; mated strength was 1J regiments of mounted rifles, two battalions of infantry, tad on* battalioa of field artillery, was holding a position on the slopes of Mount Ross. Colonel Bauchop decided to dislodge the enemy (who were represented by 60 men carrying flags symbolic of the strength of the hostile force, as stated above); and bis dispositions for attack implied the co-operation with the brigade of mounted rides {Who in reality were the do3t brigade in action) of the infantry, engineers, and artillery brigades, which were ire-presented in the symbolic manner as the enemy. The base of the whole inanceuvre ■was the railway line between Matarae and SEddleraarch. The infantry started from east of the camp (the Matarae base), crcssinffi the Taieri River by pontoons constructed by the engineers, and advancing direct upon Mount Ross. Theoretically, the mounted rifles, under Colonel Nicholls (brigadier), were at Middlemarch, and converged from there towards the other flaafc of Mount Rcss. Colonel Nicholls sent two regiments of his brigade in—the sth (Under Lieutenant-colonel Sfacdonald) and the Tth (under Lieutenantcolonel Bowler). The 12th Regiment (under Lieutenant-colonel Stewart) were Tv°!d in reserve with the C Battery. The unversed reader must understand here that mounted rifles are not cavalry. The crvalry charges' which were the spectacular feature of Napoleonic warfare, and whose elan gave birth to some of the finest literature written of the Crimean War. _ are now looked on askance by many military experts, amongst whom is no less distinguished a soldier than Sir lan Hamilton. The mounted rifles us© their horses to bring them quickly into touch with the enemy, to carry them forward quickly to the next covered position if they are successful, or, if dislodged, to take them back to cover. When a mounted regiment finds position to engage the men dismount and take cover, while their horses are tafain to th* nearest cover in the rear, and held bv a detail from the retnmentThe attack was most successfully conducted, «tfhe mounted brigade emergme from the trial with credit, and even with distinction. The scouts quickly came into towA witJh the enemy's outposts, and after a sharp engagement were rednfweed, tiU the enemVe scouts were (SBfecoed and driven in." The main body of the enemy were in strong position, but oyerHiatched once the infantry took position m their right flank, and were clearly marked for extinction when Colonel Niehells despatched the reserve regiment of mounted rifles with C Battery to pound t&efr other flank- Colonel Bauchop, the 0.C.D., wno «*te& as umpire, declared the position won, and it was generally agreed £ba£ the attack had been well conducted, sod augured well for the success of the divisional attack that will be enacted before the critical eyes of General Hamilton on Wednesday. THE ROBIN CUP COMPETITION. lii the Robin Cup Competition, the remit Of which was announced on Saturday, the teams were ficMed haphazard from the man in each regiment, the idea being to set a fairly good average set of marksnian representative of each regiment. The competition was open to one teanl from each Territorial unit in the Otago military district- According to the rules, the targets were three sets of 15 falling plates, |ft sqnare each, at unknown ranges- The teams remained under cover, in"'rear of Qte fire position, with rifles unloaded. Men, arraed with the lo*grifle, Aad five founds in the magazine. The sights were at aero. The> commander then was brought up to the first position, and had the targets pointed out to him. The target nearest the .fire poaiLion was wgaged Irst, and the fire applied untal all th« slates were knocked over. Points were deducted if fire was applied to any targft other than those ordered, and points were also deducted if fire was opened before the commander ordered it, or if it was continued after the order to cease fire was given. As soon as all the targets in the first position had been knocked oftr the commander directed the fire of bis section on the second position, and as soon as all the targets on the second position were knocked. over against the targets in the third position; Points were thus given for fire direction, fire aontrol, and fire discipline, . Service qonditions were observed by the commanders And teams. The points were awarded as fiallawa;—Kafih plate of the nearest target kribck&d over, 3 points; each plats of the imoSSfe target, 4 points; each Slate of th« distant target, 5 points. Points were deJms*~A for slates left standing. The

time allowed was three minutas {torn the time the commander rejoined hi* team, and each man was allowed 1& rounds. The result of the competition was as follows:--10th North Otago Regiment, 85 points, 1; Bth Southland Regiment, 62 points, 2; 14th South Otago Regiment, 51 points, 3; sth Mounted Rifles (Otago Hussars), 49 points, 4; 7th Southland Mounted Regiment, 4th Otago Regiment/ and Coast Defence attached to 4th Regiment, 41 points, 5; No. 2 Field Company Engineers, 39 points, 6; Divisional Signalling Companv, 30 points, 7; 12th Otago Mounted" . Regiment, 28 points, 8. The following composed the winning team:— Sergeant Savage (in charge), Corporal Dalgleislv Lance-corporal Atley, Privates ; Pry, C. M. Brean, N. Quigley, J. Bartley, R. Dugan, C. J. Jackman, A. E. Dewar, Q. Irmitage, A. Woods, W. Belcher, W. Ashley, and R. Garrett. It is hoped that the cup will arrive in time to be presented by the donor (Colonel A. W. Robin) on Tuesday or Wednesday. The umpires were Colonels Bauchop (chief, umpire), Smith, Chalmer, and Major Grant. SUNDAY IN CAMP. Ibis (Sundav) morning saw the camp in its devotional habit. At 9.30 all regiments were under arms for church parade, which was conducted by the chaplains attached to each regiment. "The bands of tfie infantry regiments paraded and played. The only denominational service held was that of the Roman Catholics, Father Coffey celebrating Mass in a marquee set aside for the service. In the afternoon at 3 there was a sacred concert by the massed bands, which drew the troops by thousands, and to-night there was a voluntary, combined service conducted by all-the chaplains in camp. During the day a considerable number of visitors rod© or motored into camp. In the evening there was ecme promise of rain.