RIFLE SHOOTING

Evening Star, Issue 22892, 25 February 1938, Page 16

RIFLE SHOOTING

INTERNATIGNAL MATCH SOUTH AFRICA'S EASY WIN NEW ZEALAND SECOND [Peb United Press Association.] TRENTHAM, Feb. 24. South Africa had an easy victory in the international teams’ match with Great Britain and New Zealand, which was fired over four ranges at Trentham to-day. With an ageregnte scorc of 1831 out of a possible 2000, the South African representatives won the match by a margin of 28 points. The New Zealand team finished in second place with a-score of 1803 and the British team was third with 1801. Definite superiority over the lone ranges gave the South Africans their victory. Although the New Zealano team had a comfortable lead after firing at the short range, it progressively lost ground as the teams moved bach for their shooting over longer distances, The teams consisted of 10 men each. The conditions of the match were 10 rounds each, with two optional sighters, at 300, 600*800, and 900 yards. Two targets were allocated to each team. , , „ The South Africans adopted a different procedure to the other teams, shooting in groups of four and two men firing alternatively at one target. The South Africans used a "short rule of light pattern and most of the British team used a specially-bedded light barrel. A heavy cut-down long barrel was used by most of the New Zealanders. Tricky shooting conditions were experienced for the greater part of the day. The sky was overeat and the dull and changeable light tnade sighting difficult. A fishtail breeze blew from the rear. This was hard to -follow and caused windage and elevation shots on many of the targets.

Records of Visitors Although the commander of the South African team. Colonel R. Bodley has been shooting better than some members of the selected team, he acted as their captain and coach, feeling that he could be of more value to the team by serving in that capacity. Colonel Bodley has been at Bisley on several occasions and in 1900 “ e finished third in the match for the King’s Prize. Another member of the team, J. E. Johnson, of .Durban, was second in the King’s Prize that year. The Governor-General Prize m the Union of South Africa, the equivalent of the King’s Prize, has been won by Colonel Bodley eight times. His son, Captain R. E. Bodley, is also a member of the team. Captain Bodley is the present holder of the Governor-Gene-ral’s Prize of South Africa. Other South Africans have good club records to their credit and several have won minor championships. Most of the members of the. British team have been at various times m the King’s Hundred at Bisley and have shot in international matches for either Scotland or England. The commander, Commander D. S. Swanston, who is a retired naval officer, has obtained a place in the Hundred nine times. Last year’s King’s Prizeman, D. L. Birney, is also a member of the team. Birney has the fare distinction of having won the silver medal for the second stage of the King’s Prize as well as the King’s Prize itself. Other members of the team who are also silver medallists arq P. R. T. Garnett and A. J. Andrews. . , , An interesting feature of the contest was the fact that the chief range officer for the match was Staff Sergeantmajor J. S. King, who was referee for the second and third Rugby football tests played between the Springboks and New Zealand last year. Sergeantmajor King is attached to the Army School of Instruction at Trentham. Colonel Bodley had the assistance of Captain Bodley and A, E. Spradbury as coaches for the South African team, but the latter two shot for their side as well. Commander Swanston was the captain and coach of the. British team, and L, J. Milne assisted him with the coaching. W. N. Masefield was the captain and coach of the New Zealand team, and T. H. R. Boon and H. H. Mawley also acted as coaches. Description of Match An analysis of the scoring sheets shows that New Zealand had a 9-point lead at the conclusion of the 300yds range with a score of. 471 over the South Africans’ 462. The British team scored 455. Back at the middle distance. a range of 600 yards, the South Africans reduced the margin by one point. Here New Zealand scored 457. South Africa 458, and the British team 453. This brought the scores of New Zealand for the two. ranges up to 928, that of South Africa to 920, and Greal Britain’s score to 909. South Africa overhauled the New Zealand team at the 800 yards range, and the shooting finished there with a margin of two points in favour of the visitors. The range score of the South Africans was 461 and that of the New Zealanders 451. At this distance th? members of the British team did better than the New Zealand representatives, returning a score of 457. For the three ranges. South Africa's score was 1381, New Zealand’s 1379, and England’s- 1366. South Africa further increased its lead at the 900 yards range, where it made a score of 450 to give it an aggregate of 1831 for the four ranges. New Zealand scored 424 at 900 yards and England 435. The only possibles of the day were secured by South Africans, M. Eksteen obtaining one at 300 yards and J. Hague another at 600 yards. Keen interest was taken in the contest, the visitors including the Gover-nor-General (Viscount Galway) and the Minister of Defence (Mr F. Jones) The Minister congratulated Colonel Bodley on the success of his team, and .cheers were given for the South Africans. Detailed results;— SOUTH AFRICA 300 600 800 900

Team total 462 458 461 450 —lß3l NEW ZEALAND 300 600 800 900

Team total .. 471 457 451 424 —180" GREAT BRITAIN

A. E. Spradbury yds. yds. yds. yds. Tl. 47 44 47 44 — 182 R. Cloete .. 45 45 44 42 — 176 J. Hague 47 50 49 46 — 192 R. E. Bodley .. 46 46 49 44 — 185 J. E. Johnson .. 45 43 42 46 — 176 L. Boxhall 43 43 47 44 — 177 K. E. Griffiths 47 48 49 45 — 189 C. H. Baxter .. 47 45 43 45 — 183 M. Eksteen 50 46 45 46 — 187 J. Bramley 45 48 43 48 — 184

N. Me Vicar yds. yds. yds yds. Tl. F. 48 45 40 46 — 179 J. McKelvie .. 46 44 43 40 — 173 H. K. Smith ., 48 45 48 43 — 184 F. H. James 45 46 43 45 — 179 D. Roots 47 47 44 44 — 182 F. W. Bowes .. 48 45 46 42 — 181 W H. West 46 44 45 44 — 179 A. Ford .. 47 49 47 39 — 182 F. J. Soler .. 40 45 48 39 — ISO C. J. Nix 48 47 47 42 — 184

300 600 800 900 yds. yds. yds yds. Tl. c. w. Seard .. 46 48 45 43 — 132 N. W. McCaw .. 47 42 45 43 — 177. C. L. Hall 47 46 47 46 — 186 R. D. Greig .. 44 43 47 42 — 186 R. A. Fulton .. 43 47 47 46 — 1.83 A. J. Andrews 40 43 46 47 — 182 C. K. Laban .. 47 47 44 40 — 178 D. L. Birney .. 44 43 44 44 — 175 P. R. T. Garnett 46 40 47 37 — 179 K. K W. Johnson 46 45 45 47 — 183 Team total .. 456 453 457 435 —1801