NATIONAL RESERVE ARTILLEAY CORPS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLIX, Issue XLIX, 13 January 1916, Page 3

NATIONAL RESERVE ARTILLEAY CORPS

ANNUAL MEKTiN<

The first annual meeting of the National Reserve Artilk-ry Corps was held at the Drill Hall last evening. Captain Cooke. Lieutenant Rogers, and a fannumber of active and honorary members were present. Captain Cooke., who presided, presented a- report on the work of the year, from which ths« following extracts are taken : , .„ <■ "Non-coms' Classes: Extra drills lor non-commissioned ollieers have been held every Friday at 7.30 p.m. at the Artf.lerv* Barracks for the purpose of training" those members desirous of obtaining non-coms' rank, and from the way tlu-se men are shapiiiy I think we will shortly I have enough efficient men to fill the vacancies. Whilst on this subject I should, like to gratefully acknowledge the help given to us by Corporal Chapman, of the Permanent staff. _ "Members on Active Service: A\ o have at the present time eight of our members at tfie front, namely. SergeantMajor (now Lieutenant) Stallard, Sergeants Spear and Hamilton, and Gunners Richards, Ravnor, Stewart, \\ hitwell and Date. To each of these wo have "iven a little memento in the shape of a sheath-knife to remind them of the corps and also to show our appreciation of their action in joining the forces. Naturallv we all follow the careers of these our own men with deep interest and confidence, and I sincerely trust we niav have the opportunity of welcoming them home when the war is over. Shoulo Providence decree otherwise they will ever remain in our memories as examples of the highest form of duty to our King and country. "Attendance: One of our greatest troubles in the past has been to keep the attendance up. Of course, I fully recognise that most of us are men with 'business responsibilities, and valuable time is not to be lightly thrown away, but surely it is not too much to ask that we devote one night a week to military training so that our. services may be ol use shpuld they be required. I think we- may look with incredulity on the possibility of defensive measures being necessary in New Zealand, 'but lask you, Is it impossible for us to be wanted in the firing-line before this disastrous war is over? I think you must admit the possibility''is there,'and. that being so, it behoves each one of ns to make himself an efficient soldier. Our work here may not do that, -but I assure yon it will go a Ion"- wav towards, it. I therefore ask that members will give this question of attendance their earnest consideration during the netx year. "The Roll: Our roll at present consists of 41 active, and 10 honorary members, with, as I mentioned before, eight on active service. During the year it was found necessary to reorganise our roll as so manv men had joined our ranks who failed to realise that we were i-omethincT more than a list of names. "Thanks aTe duo to the PI Battery officers for their generous help at the commencement of our drills, particularly Colonel Grace and Captain Brown who have given us some interesting and instructive lectures. I should also like to mention the debt we owe to Sergeant Sp°ar for the arduous work performed bv him when-acting in the position ot first secretarv'to the corps. Jo show our appreciation of his efforts we presented him with an automatic pistol prior to his departure for Trent ham. Although Mr Hurst was compelled to resign as our first lieutenant, ho has con tinned to give ns the benefit of his knowledge in artillery work, and I ru-atefullv acknowledge the assistance he nas given us bv acting as one ot our instructors and I hope we may still hayo the benefit of the service he is so wil]in<dv and ungrudgingly 'giving us. '•Recruits : -Our establishment is not bv any means complete and we; can do with more men. bat I should like; to point out the necessity of impressing upon intending members that we expect them to attend all drills and be prepared for some, stood hard work. It is also advisable I "think to form squads of recruits, as one or two new members m a partially trained sf.uad keep the whole sub-section back." „ On Uk- motion of lieutenant Rogers, a hearty vote of thanks to Captain Cooke for his interesting and able report was passed with acclamation. During the meeting a letter to Captain Cooke from Gunner Bate, in camp at Trentham. was read, in which he expressed his thanks to the- corps for their partin- gift, and stated that the tra-.n.ng fie had received while m the corps had proved of ureal assistance to him. After the business ot the m-enriiß, Servant-Major Hurst, of the H Battery, delivered an instructive address on 'Gunnery Terms." ,;