A SENSIBLE ARMY REFORM.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXVII, Issue 8156, 18 January 1890, Page 2 (Supplement)

A SENSIBLE ARMY REFORM.

Bv Array order 367, recently published, the most masterly and sweeping change of late vears has been made in the nomenclature of the Royal Regiment of Artillery, whose motto is '' Udiqnt, " The change was much wanted. The designation "Brigade" in the Horse and Field Artillery is entirely done away with, and territorial association of tho Garrison, or Foot portion of the regiment is abolished. The " Royal Horse" is now and henceforth to be known by letters "A" to "T"- twenty batteries of six guns each, with two depot batteries at Woolwich. The "Fiold" is united into one great regiment, wo may call it, of 80 batteries, distinguished by numbers from one upward? of six guns apiece, with four depot batteries at Woolwich. The Mountain or Mule batteries of the past which were organised from the "Field" and "Garrison" batteries are now formed into a separate branch, and designated "Mountain artillery" of nine batteries with a depot at Woolwich. The "territorial" divisions, so called for the past eight or nine years, of which there were ll—viz., seven English, one Scottish, one Welsh, and two Irish, arc now reconstructed and. become Eastern. Southern, and Western divisions, with so many batteries to each — 29, 42. and 25 respectively, and ' numbered from ore upwards in each division. Dover, Portsmouth, and Devonport are the headquarters of each, with depot batteries. Militia and volunteer artillery are apportioned to divisions according to locality. It will be seen from this that, in a territorial service, the Royal Artillery is a purely English bra ch of our armed forces—especially the garrison portion. In future, when we soeu smartly-dressed, well- et-up jackefcted and spurred member of the R.A. in cur streets, or in our public places, we know at once he belongs to a battery of tho Royal Horse, without troubling our thoughts as to which " brigade" he belongs. Similarly, on observing an equally well-dressed soldier wearing a blue tunic, with Hat buttons thereto, he is known at once as being a member of the " Field" branch of the regiment ; if a n.-com. driver, lie is spurred and carries without fail a " whip" ; on his shoulder strap is the number of his battery. The whole of the Mountain batteries except the depot being atall times on foreign service, libtlo need bo said of them. The Garrison Artillery are dressed similar to the Field, with the sole exception thatexcept, of course, mounted officers—they do not wear spurs. • On the shoulder strap will appear the name of the division and the number of the battery. Of the "Horse" Artillery, 11 batteries will be always (unless —) on service in India, and at home nine. The Field will be distributed between India and home, having 4*2 in our great possessions of the East, and 38 in Great Britain and Ireland. Of the Garrison batteries, 5!) are usually abroad, the remainder—37—being at home and in the Channel Islands. Our service artillery consists of 203 batteries— which 112, considerably more than half, are always abroad—stretching away from Gibraltar eastward to Hong Kong, and westward across the Atlantic to the West Indies and Nova Scotia.