NO MEDMANISED ARMY.

Evening Star, Issue 20254, 15 August 1929, Page 8

NO MEDMANISED ARMY.

The New Zealand Defence Forces aie not to bo raeclvniscd yet, in tho sense that machines will take the place of men. To sonic- extent, ''however, they may take the place ot horses. Mechanisation has gone • a lung way in* tho British Army since the war ended, but not so far as some enthusiasts would like to see. Infantry are still supposed to bo needed, and the official view will not even approve, ol the complete alio-’ litton ol ciualiy as a, [actor in future defence. .It can move still in a great many places where “ tanks ” cannot, and probably will always be able to do so. A factor to prevent more than the most limited substitution of machines for men in the New Zealand Defence Forces would bo that tho .machines would bo costly, and repeatedly they would bo out of date a short time after they were obtained. The .same factor makes it natural that aviation should bo developed chiefly as a civilian enterprise, and not as the main element in defence. In tho opinion of Major-gen-oral Young, as set forth in Ids latest report, the time has not'yet, arrived when wo should attempt oven the nucleus of an armoured fiediting unit in the' New Zealand military forces. Ho believes, however, that it is now essential to acquire some mechanised vehicles for the Territorial units. “Com inducing with field artillery, the process must bo very gradual, hut the provi sion of these mechanical vehicles would not only bo.more' economical in permitting a great reduction to be made in the number of horses maintained and hired for artillery training, but would also give much hotter results in the limited time available tor field training and battery- timpani vresi” A report just to hand describes bow a run el “stud firm ” for the '■apply ol “iron hors s ” to Territorial .units is an in to resting result ot the steady mec.batrs tion of the i.’iitish Army. Lively young two-seatei cars 9 can • be seen bucking and bouncing over ditches, boulders, and hillocks, while massive “ draught horses ” of. iron and' steel haul eighteen-pounder guns up, hill and

down dale on a diet of petrol and oil. The “farm” is run by the Artillery Transport Company near York, which hires out to the Territorial units the six wheeled lorries‘ and tractors which are,- now taking the place, of horses for hauling gun carriages.,. It supplies about 95 per cent, of the traction for the Territorial Forces, and also equips the mechanised units of the Regular; Army for the summer maheeuvres on Salisbury Plain. ■ Previously a foreign make of tractor was 'used,, but tho British designs have proved to bo so much more efficient that they aro now employed exclusively. In capital 'charges it costs £O.OOO at Home to mechanise a battery, hi working costs mechanical transport is admitted to be 'almost equal to horse transport, but tile efficiency' is claimed to bo very much higher.