THE EXPEDITIONARY FORCE.

North Otago Times, 20 July 1917, Page 1

THE EXPEDITIONARY FORCE.

I STATEMENT BY SIR JAMES ALLEN. ; NUMBER OP SUGGESTIONS BEFITTED. ■ . " '. V MAIN BODY MEN TO REMAIN. i • WELLINGTON, July 18. "It is not true that we'have soldiers in England to-day doing nothing," said the Minister'of Defence in the House of Representatives in reply to a statement made in the course of a debate. "There are some sick and wounded New Zealand soldiers in the hospitals, and they cannot do much, The rest of the men arc in the training eamlps, and members'of this House who have visited the United Kingdom recently will support me when I say that the men in''training in our camps in England are worked a yroat deal harder than the men in Trcnlhnm or Foatherslon. The last repor 1 I had from General Richardson stated Ihat there were 1.1.0D0 New Zealand soldiers in England at that time,' lO.flOl) of them being fit to go 'to the front and 5000 of them sick and wounded. The 'rest of our men were in Prance, Egypt, and elsewhere.

"It would give me great pleasure as Minister of Defence to bring the Main Body men'back to .New Zealand, but you must recollect that these men, with their training and experience, are a very valuable asset to the New Zealand Division, especially in the case of the officers. I believe myself that if we were to give these men the' option of returning to New Zealand -now a very large majority of them would prefer to stay and see the thing-through.

'.'lt has been stated that, we have 04,000 men fit for fighting outside New Zealand. That is not the position, What I told the House last week was that 04,000 men were abroad.

A Member:' "How many men have We in the firing line?"

Sir James Allen: "We have about 20,000 men, in the 'fighting line in France at the present time. When 1 last had a report there were also ;1000 or 4000 men at Etaples as a first reserve, ready to go into the firing linei at any moment. Our division must\ have that support. It is the knowledge that tliey have reinforcements behind them ready to fill gaps in the ranks that makes our men what they are. The New Zealand Division has been assisted to win the name it now holds because it has had a steady supply of reinforcements. The assurance of support is the help we owe our men.

"Reference has been made to an Australian proposal to bring back the remnants of the Main Body. I know something about that. I have been in communication with tho Federal Defence Minister. He is ju9t as anxious as tho New Zealand Defence Minister is to get these men back if possible, but the Australian Defence Minister is in a much worse position that the New Zealand Defence Minister. Ho cannot move these men without uO'troying his divisions. Tho reinforcements from Australia have been so—but I ought not to refer to-Australian 'reinforcements, and I will not do so. , "It has been stated in this House that the percentage of reinforcements for the infantry is 12J," continued •the.Minister. "That is not the case."

Dr. Thackcr: "Twelve and a half per cent, on tho whole force?" Sir James Allen; "I will make a statement on that subject later. Thp infantry reinforcement -rato is 10 per cent,, as fixed bv Ihe War Office."

Dr. Thackcr: "More llian double Ihe Australian rale."

Sir James Allen: "I may refer to Australia later." The Minister added that before the outbreak of the war the nrmy authorities had.fixed Ihe rate of reinforcements for the maintenance of a unit in the field at 7 per cent, per month, but the early stages of the war had shown Ihat the percentage was too small, and the reinforcement rate was ■then increased to 1U per cent, Tho Gallipoli cainipaign showed that l'!!-J per cent, was insufficient. The New Zealand Main Body, in common with other forces, felMnto i deplorable condition owing to lack of men, and the reinforcement rate was increased, to 20 per cent, per month. . • '

Mr Young: "You did hot give them guns or ammunition at Gallipoli. They could not defend themselves,"

Sir James Allen: "After some oxperience of the. campaign in France we reduced the reinforcement rate for tho infantry to 15 per cent. 'lt stands at that'now. I have been in communication with the War Office to see whether the rato must be maintained or can be reduced. ; If n , reduction is possible it will be made, but whatever .happens we must maintain the reinforcement rate fixed by the War Office." ••" - , : ,'' . ;