WBHS Wins High Military Honours

Northern Advocate, 27 November 1948, Page 5

WBHS Wins High Military Honours

HIGH military honours have been won by the Whangarei Boys’ High School Cadet Battalion. Warrant Officer R. M. Dickie has been adjudged the best cadet N.C.O. in the Northern Military District, and the commanding officer of the unit (Major D. W. Lawson) has been informed that his unit has won section 2 of the Imperial Daughters of Empire competition.

Warrant Officer Dickie’s success has won far him the Friar Memorial Trophy. He is the 18-year-old son of Mr N. M. Dickie, of Moerewa, and has been a boarder at Carruth House for five years. He passed his Public Service Entry in 1945, School Certificate in 1946, University Entrance -in 1947, has an endorsed School Certificate, and is studying for the University Scholarship. In sporting activities he has also been promineht, having played in the fist XV for two yeai’s, and been a member of the Whangarei junior representatives. He won the steeplechase this year and was runner-up in the athletic sports. Dickie has been a school prefect for two years, and this year is head prefect. In addition to the Friar Memorial, he won the challenge stick for the best NCO in Area 3, covering the seven Northern counties. The Friar Memorial Trophy is open to competition among all the high school cadet battalions in the Northern Military District, which covers the northern half of the North Island. NCOs from all secondary schools in Auckland and the southern centres competed for this coveted trophy.

FOR DUNTROON? Two of the unit’s senior cadets. Warrant Officers Dickie and A. Simons have applied for entry to the Royal Military College, Duntroon. Both have passed the initial selection examination and they will shortly proceed to Trentham for the final New Zealand selection. Harmonious cooperation between the school and regular Area staff, and many months of hard work were responsible for the success in the competitions. Competition for the Daughters oi Empire Trophy consisted of ceremonial drill, infantry company training, and specialist training (ATC, medical signals and intelligence). The school recently came third in the .303 shooting competition for the Earl Roberts Trophy. PRINCIPAL DELIGHTED “I am naturally delighted to hear that the school has been so successful.” said the headmaster of the Boys’ High School (Mr H. A. Henderson), when asked to comment this morning. “By winning section 2 of the Daughters of Empire Competition, which covers all spheres of military work, the school has proved, for its size, the premier one in the Northern Military District. “The successes are a tribute to Major Lawson and his officers,” concluded Mr Henderson.