TERRITORIALS

Evening Star, Issue 17927, 24 March 1922, Page 3

TERRITORIALS

[By Skiruishse,]

Item of interest concerning Corps (Town and. Country), shooting, and Territorial note* generally will he accepted. Copy, addressed to "Skirmisher," should it m Hand not later than Monday morning

Appointments, promotions, resignations, and transfers of officers of the Territorial Farces : THE OTAGO REGIMENT. Captain Q. Myers, from the Reserve of Officers, to bo captain (7th 0 Battalion). Bated February 20, 1922.’ Tho undermentioned to be second lieutenant. on probation (7th C Battalion), dated February 23, 1922;—Harry Mitchell Dykes, Alexander M'Gruor, Ernest Hunter Diack. —Southern Command. — Second Lieutenant R, B. Brebne.r is posted to the Retired List under the provisions of General Headquarters’ instruction No. 66/21, dated March 1, 1922. The commissions of the undermentioned are cancelled under the provisions of General Headquarters’ Instruction No. 56/21, fj-Sd March 1, 1922:—Class l.(b) R.U. 1.--Second Lieutenant F. R. Coomhcs. Second Lieutenant A. J. Fairmaid, Second Lieutenant A. R Munro. Second IMitenant M. J. Fordo. D.C.M. C)w Vt.(b)~ Second Lieutenant W. Maun. The Prince -of IVales surprised and pleased the sol .five's of the Sixteenth Rajpuls when ho addressed them in Urdu after presenting them with new colors for their regiment, says a Belli message to tile Australian papers of February 19. This was the first public utterance the Prince had made in the vcrnreular. He spoke in simple, clear langmu.:, with an accent, which was highly praised by critical members of the audience.

The area rifle meeting, Arc;. lI.A, which commences on Saturday next an the I’elichet Bay Tango, promises to W a success, and all that is required is ur.e weather. Rifles for series A, B, and C inll be supplied on the range. The rw'vking and scoring conditions in all msUt cs will be as per musketry course. J r Z. Military Forces, 1921-22. ‘Cadets who have attained the age of 18 years by T)o:’f'»her 31, 1921, will fire in the Territorial r-itches, shooting each day from 9 a.in. b. 12 noon and 1,30 p.m. to 6 p.m, A refreshment stall will bo open on tho range. This week’s Christchurch ' Press ’ reproduces a photograph ot the bhelial Mosaic ns it appeared in the Turkish trench after it was uncovered 1 by the Australian Light Horse. A reproduction of the drawing of the mosaic taken by ex-Trooper F. L. MacFarlane, of the local Telegraph Office, appeared in the illustrations of the ‘Weekly Press’ of November 25 Jest. This wonderful piece of ancient artistry formed part of practically all that remained of a Byzantine bascilica nr church. It was found on the top of a hill at Shellnl between Beersheha and Khan Yunus, on the main road from Jerusalem to Egypt, not far from Gaza, in Bout born Palestine. The mosaic floor had been badly damaged bv tho Turks, who had established a ma-chine-gun post and cut their trenches right through it. Tho story of the accomplishment of lifting and packing the floor was graphically told by Mnjtland Woods and published in the ‘Daily TirmV of August 1. 1915 or. 16. During this difficult task. which was undertaken the padre, assisted bv a number of engineers unde 1 ’ Major C. ”E. Wilson. R.E., the bones of St George, the patron saint of England, were unearthed. Tho discovery of these bones led to.rather an amusing incident. The padre was elated at the find, and wived to G.H.Q. “Have found bones ot saint " ■ A little while after the reply came back: “Unable trace Saint m casualty list. Obtain particulars of regimental number and regiment from his identity diSc."‘ . . In response to tho inquiries of a correspondent regarding the scale by which distance away of objects can be judger.. “Bullseye” gives that in Colonel Sleemati’s ‘ First Principles of Tactics and Organisation.’ It may bo of_ interest to my readers also. With a suitable background and in good light, objects can le distinguished by good sight _ as follows: Ten miles, church towers ; six miles, windmills, large houses: 4.oCoyds, windows, chimneys; 3,oooyds, trunks of large trees, 2,oooyds, infantry like a black line, cavalry like a serrated black line, mounted men like a spot; I,sooyds, telegraph posts, files of infantry-can.be seen, and guns, can be distinguished; I,2ooyds, infantry can be clearly distinguished from cavalry: I,oooyds. movements of men’s _ legs and arms can be seen, line of men like a belt, direction of march can bo seen ; 600yds. files can be counted; 500yds, men s heads and shapes of headgear can he seen ; 400yds, color of facings can bo distinguished. Sound travels at the rate ot about 400yds per second! (380, to be exact) ; four'beats of the pulse to I,oooyds is a fair rough calculation. At night good hearing becomes of even greater value than good sight. For this reason sentries —and, in fact, all on duty—should guardi against anything which will interfere with hearing, such as Balaclava helmets, scarves, etc. If worn, tho ears must not bo covered. . . The American Army Appropriations Committee of the House of Representatives has agreed to the reduction of the armv from 137,000 to 115.000. Mr Thomas Alva Edison has described to Mr Henry Ford a new weapon his son invented during the war. but XTas not perfected in time for use-, the weapon h:is a steel shell, in wheel form, about 3ft high and 6in wide. Round the edge was a steel rim, smooth and heavy. This steel wheel could be fitted with 1.K.1. or any high explosive, regulated by a time fuse. When charged the wheel could bo set on shafting and attached to a Ford tractor, highly geared. It would revolve at a tremendous speed, and when the speed developed to 35.000*surface feet per second it would bo automatically releas'd from the shafting. In front was an inclined planel down which the revolving wheel sped with bullet rapidity. It would sometimes go two miles, cutting like a knife everything in its path. It went through 100 ft of barbed wire entanglements, close set, as if they were cobwebs. It could eat a. way through a wall and shoot on until the time-fuse exploded, when it would level everything within 150 ft. “Wo designed theso for sending into the German trenches to clean them opt before a charge.” said Mr Edison. Tho Imperial Challenge Shield matches will h-avo to be completed before tho end of April. In view of tho trophy presented bv tho Governor-General in connection with these matches, them should be no difficulty in securing largo entries this year. Other districts are busy prac--1 Uinrg, so I trust Otago isjaking the mat-o-r un in real earnest, with a view to annexing something worth while. Tho proceeds of (he Poppy Day scheme, which is being carried out by tho Returned. Soldiers’ Association to celebrate Atomic Day, are to ho devoted to tho relief of unemployment among returned soldiers. The comm’tfceo suggests that tho unemployed ox-soldiers should, obtain relief in the following order: —(a) Marriedmen with children and no pension; (b) married men with children and a small pension ; (c) married men and single men with dependents; (d)- single men without dependents. It is felt by tho committee that the maximum amount of good to tho maximum number of soldiers will be don© it the money is devoted to this purpose, and the absorption of as much soldier unemployment aa possible will react beneficially on general unemployment throughout tho Dominion. A deputation composed of representatives of tho War Relief Association., .Repatriation Board, and N.Z.R.S.A., under tho leadership of General Sir A.' H. Russell, waited upon the Hon. D. H. Guthrie and tho Hon. G. J. Anderson in Wellington on March 7 to place their combined views before the Ministers in regard to the absorption of unemployed disabled soldiers in, various Government departments. It was forcibly pointed out that, in many cases the pension granted to a' disabled soldier was in itself insufficient to keep tho soldier, and a light job at a corresponding wage rate was necessary to augment the pension allowance. A scheme

for the employment of such soldiers yyas submitted by tho deputation to the Ministers, and in reply they stated they would place tho whole matter before tho Cabinet lor further consideration. It has been decided by the Imperial War Graves Commission (says the London correspondent of the ‘Weekly Press’) that tho funds available for the commemoration of the unidentified 1 dead in tho Ypres salient shall bo devoted to the erection of a memorial gateway on the Alenin road. Tho names of the soldiers of tho Imperial Forces whore bodies have not been identified will therefore bo inscribed on the gateway. Sir James Allen, a member of the Commission, disagreed with this arrangement for the New Zealand dead, and preferred the system which is to be put into operation generally in tho other parts of the battlefields —recording the names in a cemetery near to which tho men were known to nave fallen. The amount allocated to each of tho unidentified is about £5, and this will bo used for carrying out some form of memorial in certain cemeteries in the sal'ent. After consideration it has been found that tho greatest number of unidentified fell in the vicinity of the Tyneci.te British Cemetery at Passebendaelo, or in the vicinity of the Bntto New British Cemetery at Polygon Wood; so there two cemeteries have been chosen wherein to commemorate their names. In the toimer there will be 1.215, arid the latter 556 names. Tho High Commissioner is in communication with the architect for there cemeteries, and has asked him to suggest a form in which to commemorate the New Zealand unidentified. About £6,000 will bo available. for this purpose in the Tynccoto Cemetery and £I,BOO in the Butte de Polygon Wood.