31ST REINFORCEMENTS

Evening Star, Issue 16460, 26 June 1917, Page 6

31ST REINFORCEMENTS

, „ K *- , ~. ■ - DRAFT & LEFT FOR TRENTHAM AMD MiLTON EXTHEIR QUOTAS. K 1 ' 1 -' - \>’ ■■’ l-C’’,; -'The' Southland ■ men under Sergeant!|:%majdr.;,'Frassr; .and the Milton men under ks4Sergeant-major, Slorric arrived in Dunedin iS‘*f"]asfc-’,-nightj and paraded at the Early Hall .this morning. Tho Dunedin i;-. men, assembled, at tho Kensington Hall at ' 9 -a.m., Major Moller in command of the v, ' f parade, and then inarched in to Anzac ' square, 'headed by the Maori Hill Band, r :: I.' conducted by Mr J. W. Simpson. *" ‘A great crowd assembled for the leave- ■.. Making—one of thelargest at these func•J ' 'tior.Sr—and the proceedings were of a most . chaxa-.-tcr. tho' people joining , heartily in the singing and repeatedly the departing recruits. *' Cowic-Nicholls and Major . MC-ooper wo.ro present, accompanied by • Major Hickey and Captain Dobson, and / Captain Myers (A.A.G.) -directed tho detail -arrangements. ~ When, Major Moller delivered the men at 3 the, station it was repotted that the num- / .v,' wers were: Dunedin group ... ...... 162 'Milton group ~ ... 53 . • Southland group 131

' ' 346 s.The Dunedin and Milton groups were a few-, in exiiess of the cjuota, the Southland ■ group a few short. ■The non-coms, saw that the .men were promptly entrained at five-minutes to 11 o’clock, and the spare time was filled in by the playing of ‘The Long, Long Trail’ ..Jby.'tho Maori Hill.Band, whose spirited music set the boys singing. , 4 s clock struck the hour the special ■ train moved out with ns fine a body of v men fso far as one could judge by the'eye) . as ever left Dunedin for camp. They Were ■ - particularly jolly and well-behaved, and . nearly all just coming to their prime. . Captain Stevens (commander of Group .16) goes up in charge, Sergeant-majors r ; Wheeler and Cuddle being there to help ' • him.

■The gathering of the public at the Ken- - sington Hall was , above the average. ■" Colonel Smith and Lieutenant-colonel ; ‘ Stoneham were present.' Colonel Smith, addressing the men, said there wore three things they should be . proud of—first, that to all appearances • They wore as good a detachment as any , that had: gone before; second, that they iTvero travellings further than the men o’f , any other district in the Empire; third, - that they had splendid traditions made for ’ .-them, and they had only to live up to v those traditions to <lo -well. Ho earnestly hoped (hat-the war would he over before • they got there, but if they bad to fight v '• - the people here know that they would add to the traditions of the colonial soldier. V He counselled-..them to take their training , seriously, and to pay particular attention . to their firing course. Ho hoped they ; would try to heat the musketry record . held by the 20th. They would be trained tv.;; to 15 shots a minute. Possibly at some .time or other they Would experience in battle what had been called “the mad minute.” If in such an emergency they could coolly pump in 15 shots whilst the • / foe were firing 10 they would see what ■' effect it would have. There was no reason why the 51st should not fight as well as any of the others from this side of the Equator. He did not want them to ■ rrin away with the opinion that tho Australians and New Zealanders were better ribthan the British. That could not he. The • trained British soldier was the best in the world. But our men were good, too. and -. -he wanted them to he at their best by using %• V> their • will-power to avoid drink and by . - ; making and keeping themselves perfectly He would also ask them to remember •■ 'vvlien'r being welcomed at way ports that tho 32nds were to follow. On behalf of if ;; • tho Territorials he wished the 31st success and God-speed and a safe return. '' ' Speaking at Anzao Square, tho Mayor of •.:> i Dunedin (Mr J. J. Clark) gave a stirring •.speech, irom which wc make the following extracts: —We are pleased that it has been t," .possible to arrange tho train service so os , to enable us to honor our citizen soldiers '• * who are leaving to fight tho battles of the Empire, and to show them that we are ■ proud of tho 31st Reinforcements, and are ■ • v. confident- that they will bring added lustre the British Army. Let us show our ap;i;.preciafion of them in the only way that is -r-;vat present possible, by three hearty cheers. riif,(Th®-crowd responded heartily.) The bitter, tragic' .world-war still continues, and in ri spite, pf . the awful sorrow and pain that in its train, the heart of our mighty '.is ■ strong. Our colons are nailed uJfriHinnly”to‘,the-masthead, and they will not down by the.foe. The whole nadetermined to fight on until th&Hun, :tf • beaten anil his fiendish scheme of world -V-conquest' is Shattered. These men Whom j; t ‘' r 'we',aTe farewelling this morning are going . to in what we believe will be the final'victory. There can be no doubt in fri-T'tho minds, of any of us that we shall win. The days are past for hopes of a swift and • ■ easy victor)'. The best we hear is that an :<:. -enemy, attack has been readied with heavy ■ ; - loss, or that some small section of the . country has been gained. This seems to ns, in our lack of knowledge, such a little to bb gained by our enormous army. Yet ."'■•those who know best are satisfied. The methods of modern warfare are net yet ” understood by us. Step by step our Army v ;is fdvancing .to victory. I believe it Vv can t fail. Thoso of ns who have stayed - • belund in safety and comfort have our part to play in tho war, not merely to rive of our;time nad money, hut to devote our ability- -towards organising for the new -p > social and economio conditions that will V • arise after the war. We have to realise '<■ • tnat wlien our enemy tnil in securing miii- , • haiY dominance they will seek to capture the * commercial supremacy of the world. Hetus : ; , make no mistake. ■ Germany will be just as •' well organised, as relentless, as prepared -pond as unscrupulous in tho coming com- . • mercial war as .she is in the present. Wo must set our house in order at once if wc arc to have:.victory in the war after the war. . .sho year-before the war broke out -• Germany sold poods to the British Empire to tho value of £167.000.000. To our eternal shame he it said that it was th“ British Empire,; that found the money to build the German fleet and build up her - hug® war muchino. We have to take care that .such 'will not happen again. Now is the time' for everyone to be np and doing,' ■ and be ready-to eay “Hands off” to the < Hunp when they send their goods to our •: ' -Dominion. If we only realise, when the war is. over, the fiendish devilment of tho , _ Germans, then the brand “.Made in Germany” would be banished for ever from , the Empire. Let us present a united front • . on this-question.,,; The public, with no un- . V certain must demand’ that Parlia- ■>; mont make it impossible for the disloval Britisher, j whose Only ideal is money,” to ; buy or sell German .goods. Wliat is’the ; use of these men going to fight Germany if we are going to forget in a fe w ve ars. Men of' the 31efc Reinforcement. on behalf ■ of-tho citizens, I wish yon God-speed in - your glorious mission. We believo you will,‘‘play the game” and maintain 'tho .- • splendid name of the citizen soldiers from .‘(down under.” .You carry with vou tho warm, heartfelt good wishes of Tall (he - ’• people of this Dominion, and the confident belief that the 31st will secure such a re- • ; ' cord .that their deeds will be for ever en- •} in the hearts of the nation. (Applause.) ■ ' 1 : , The W- A - Hay also gave an ad- . , « re ss- He said that for nearly three years y- .the waves of sorrow had been passing over 'Empire, and they had reached Ota mi; waters had, drawn nearer a fine spirit of courage and self-sacrifice had , enabled us to meet all our troubles and <\ to-day we were sending forth anotherbodv i\' of men representatives of all that that -•/; courage and self-sacrifice, stand for. The ,-;k~ hopes of all tho mothers of. tho bot T s pregv . -ymusly sent were centred in the ones now and it was . felt .(hat (he life energy rtfipse-.of-onr brethren i whose blood had fff would ,iii, some mystic way pass hitest' recruits. ”This war was «4&.}dea]is were mot mythical r They must bo

expressed- somewhere and reside in some P.l. nc <C, and ...be'.had strong hopes that" the men pf the 31st .would-have in themselves' that power which - would make for moral . effectiveness in the held, and also in the camp. The :>var was. revising bur estimen. - W© saw past the externals. Only, one thing could stand men in battle. It was not strength—it was not courage. It was that power-which could only come from possessing the spirit of that Master whom wo serve to whom these men were now toeing commended. It was the spirit of moral courage that alone could secure us a permanent victory. If they had to bear suffering, may God’s consolation be with them. May God go with them, and His spirit constantly possess them, enabhng them to put up a fight .without parallel in the deeds of all-who had gone before.

- The' rev. gentleman concluded, by reciting the Lord’s Prayer, all becomingly uncovering as he did so. Cheers from the people concluded a very hearty gathering. The following is a full statement of the composition of the' draft:

DUNEDIN GROUP. —lnfantry. Adams, Herbert Stanley. ' Allan, Robert. Alloo, Albert Peacock. Rain, James Love. Barton, Frederick William. 8011. Frederick Charles. Black, James. j Bradley, Frederick John Musgrovo. Brennan, Richard Mortimer. Brown, Alfred Brown, Hanson Freeman. Cameron. Donald Allen. Cameron, G. D. Campbell, Charles. Clements, Charles William. Cole. Albert John. Connor, Walter Muir. Coiiper, George Forrester. Crawley, William John. Davidson. James. 1 Davies, Geo r ge Herbert. Hickson, Robert. Driver, Frank. Drury, Henry Thomas. Edwards, Thomas Leonard. Egan, John Francis. Ericson, John Frederick. Ewart, Thomas. . Fahey, George. Finch, John James. Fleming. Eric Kingsley. Fraser, David. Fraser. Roy Henderson. Garforth. Arthur John. Garty. Thomas. Gilchrist, Herbert Thomas. Gilmour, David Haddow. Goodall, Benjamin. Gorman, Peter. Graham, James Ormislon, Greaves, Frank. Groves, Alpheus. Gow, John William. Harris, Henry John. Haughton, William. Henderson, George Alexander. Henderson, John Robertson. Henderson, Thomas George. Hessey. David. Hill, William John. Hoatten, Frederick Albin Victor. Holleyman, John Frederick. -- Howell, Thomas Cecil. Highley, Alfred. Hunter, Edward Albert. Jackson, William Hawton. I Johnson, Henry Peter. Kearney, Francis. Kennedy, Alexander. Kennedy, Arnold Griffiths. Kerr, Charles. King, Arthur Ernest. Kinlock, Henry. Leggett. William. Leitch, Peter. Lindsay. William. Lister, Leslie Douglas. Lorimer, James Stobie. Luke, David. Lynch, Thomas Michael. M'Creary. Thomas. M‘l)ougall, Norman Stuart. M'Kendry, James. M'Laren, John Osborne. M'Lauehlan. Peter Crerar., M‘Lean, Alan Robert. M'Millan, Sinclair. M‘Pherson, James Charles; M Rac, Ronald Joseph Douglas. MTaggart, Albert George. Mann, Stewart Lawson. Mason, Frederic.. Mayer, William Gillespie. Milnes, King. Mitchell, William Owen. Mooney, Patrick Maurice. Munro, Alexander. Mutch, David. Newman, Joseph. Nicholls, Arthur Howard. Nicolson, Frank Loraine. Notman, George Goldie. O’Connor. Morris. Paisley, Harold William. Paterson, John Chas. Randal], Charles. Roberts. Albert Moses. Robertshaw. Frederick Arthur. Robinson. Charles. Rogers, George Roy. Ross, Thomas Dow'. Russell, Janies Carruthers. Shaw, Nicol Campbell. Shaw, Bonald Campbell. Stephens, William Hudson. Steven, Bertrand James. Stevens, Thomas Middleton M'Alpine. Stewart, Alexander. Stewart, Alexander. Stewart, James. Taylor, Herbert Stanley. Thompson, George Thomas. Thomson, William. Tye, James. Tyrie. Leslie. Wakelin, Henry Cnomcring. Watkins, Richard William. Wilkinson, William. Williams, Albert Cecil. Williams, Albert Edwin Brown. Williamson, Harry Claude. Winder, Leslie James. Wilson, \ ictor Thomas. Worgor, Algernon. M - right, .John Leopold Stowart. Young, Thomas Crawford. —Engineers.— Kempthorne, William Oke. Rennie, Andrew. —Mounted Rifles.— Bruce, Alexander Abercrombie. M’Lecd, John Graham. M’Mullan, Janies Alexander. Nichol, Leslie-.’ . Sinclair, Andrew. “ Watson, Sydenham Charles Chapman. Wright, William Robert. —Artillery.— Bennett, Arthur Leslie. Duckworth, Arbor. Goyen, Thomas Raymond. Hogg, Henry Alfred. Lindsay, George Percival. Mac Donald, Kenneth. Mawhinney, Alexander. M’Kinnon, Alexander -Donald. McLennan, Donald. Mills, Arthur M’Laren. Stark, Jeffrey. -Stronach, Char'es Donald. Struthers, Alexander Cameron. Sunderland, Eric M’Donald. Willes, Richard Francis. Wilson, Arthur. —Army Service Corps.Cockroft, William Edward. « Al'Gilvary, Henry Russell. MTlaffie, Ralph. Whitaker, James Victor. —Ambulance.— Mail, Hector James. Eitchie> Russell Vernon. Tressider, Henry Clarenco. Watt, Charles William. Williams, John Upham. MILTON.

J. M Donald, J. P, Boyd, F. Duncan, F. Pitts, A. Lawrence, E.” E. Brittenden, F. B. Bissett, J. N. Bell, H. W. Blackie T. Crawford, J. G. Chalmers, G.TK Dryden, W. A. Duncan, D. G. Tripp, A. D Bringans, P. S. Clayton, E. D. L. Campbell, VV. Manson, H. Tilson, N. G. M‘Kinnon, E. Dalziel, J. Girvan; W. Hassett, J.: Jenkins, J. Junge, T. Kean, C. G. M'Sweeney, G. S. M’Lean, J. D. W. M'Lellan, W. Parker, A. Pullar, W. H. Pearce, M.‘Puller, T. G. Paulin, F. hj! Russell, J. A. Roulston,. J. W. Russell, T. E. Roberts, E. W. Robson, N. Shaw, J. R. Smaill, J. Shanks, F. W. Shnmonds, ,J. Stoddart, N: Sullivan,, J. M. Taylor, S. W. Wilson, N. Wilkinson.

SOUTHLAND. ; ■ A. Thomson, L. H. Oakes, T. M'Millan, J: H. Miller, H. 'Morton, J. Welfare, J. P.; C. Simpson, A. ,E., Smith, R. Wills, J.' D. Campbell,* L. JV Pavmenter, W. M-. Fraser, M. A; M‘Rae, P.' 0. '■ Stewart, ’S. Cavlmagh, N. M'Hoiigall,- G. C. Clearwater, T. J. Hendren, T. W. Darragh, A. L. Ross, -R, A. Baird, S. G. Burtenshaw, P. J. Valentine, C. E. Glenn, H. Schroder, R. F.- Milne, J. L. Gallagher, R. R- Todd, T. K. Nelson, W. H. Y. Hooper, A. Craig,, J. V. Nicholson, C. Brownlie, R- Y: Wallace, T. Chatterton, A. C. Steel, A. Kelly, C. P. M. Pointon, R. J. Murray, J. D. Donaldson, D. Austin, G. D. Burrowes, W. J. Cusack, W. G. R. Duncan, W. Cook, H. D. W. M'Connachio, J: R.' Hicks, J. Thorn, J. M. M'Gaighan, J. Egan, M. ■ Duffy, J. Ryan, D. Gillespie, R. Simons, W. R. Buttolph, W. L. Aherncthy, X. Wilkinson, D. R. Burgess, D. L., Baird, J. Everett, P. A. Barclay, R. J. Wright, T. Middlemiss, W. F. Finn, A. _D. M'Gavock, A. Moncrieff, T. J. O’Keeffe, H. D. A. Hume, M. G. Hudson, J. R. Coimsell, J. Kirkwood, J. G. Senior, J. M‘Ewing, E. J. Tregoning, W. M‘Cov, T. M’Donald, J. Finnester, V. C. R6s*e, W. Whittingham, T. R. Lightfoot, J. M'Laughlan, W. A. Lee, D. Winter, J. ,C. Wright, W. T. Ritchie, A. A. Guteell, G. E. Maltby, R. M‘Natty, R. E. Soper, R. W. Joyce, F. Stone, M. C. Perkins, M. Watt, 11. Harris, J. Moylan, J. GriHen, A. M. .Menzies, W. MTtobie, J. S. Clarke, -R. H. Forster, F. Knelt, A. D. Dunlop, J. Davidson, T. S. Dwyer, G. Fleck, W. N. M'Donald, H. Humphrey, A. E. Smith, R. H. Officer, J. Bradshaw, P. Brogan, H. S. Bayes, W. K. Waters, J. Willoughby, W. Y. Bayne, J. R. Murrell, R. Robinson, D. A. Falconer, Cl. Kelly, J. W. Lcggat, J. Perkins, W. J. Davis, A. P. Allen, S. M. Clive, R. S. Cole, A. D.. Crawford, R. K. Corrye, R. M. Pullar, M. Lavell, J. Mentor, C. .A. Pearce, G. M'Connick, W. T. Wilson.