AUSTRALIAN FORCES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15770, 19 November 1914, Page 9

AUSTRALIAN FORCES.

NO SHORTAGE OF MEN.

RECRUITING TO CONTINUE.

The New South Wales military authorities intend to carry on recruiting until orders for a suspension arrive from headquarters, says the Sydney Daily Telegraph. The personnel of all author- \ ised establishments in the Second Military District has been more than filled, and there is a swelling surplusage of men who would be available for reinforcements, or for subsequent expeditionary forces. The decision of the Federal Government to continue raising forces until the necessity for their services ceases, is generally understood to be conditional on the military situation as it develops dur-; ing the conflict. The present mood in- ' clines to the view that enough men have for the present been raised in New South Wales, and that the authorities have as many men as can conveniently -be trained. But the inevitable fluctuations' of the campaign may alter this and cause recruiting to be prosecuted more vigorously than ever. One fact stands forth, whatever happens— there are abundant men yet available in the State, where the response has already been magnificent. Particularly in the supply of light horsemen has New South Wales done remarkably well, and already there are more men available for this arm than the authorised units require. Over 3009 men are training at Liverpool and Rosehill, certain infantry reinforcements being still encamped at the latter place.

To say there is no shortage of men is true to-day. It may not be true three months hence. Therefore the progress of enrolment may, in the main, be deter mined by the progress of the British arms. Meanwhile, hundreds of men ars being trained in anticipation of their services being needed. Well-informed authorities take the view that should by good fortune, their services not be required, the training of such a body of men and their "availability" will be good value for the money spent, even though the forces remain at home. Should, however, more armies be required, the wisdom of the present preparations Till be amply justified.

THROUGH THE PERISCOPE.

GERMAN SAILOR'S STORY,

The Munich Neuesten Nachrichten gives the following dramatic account of a trip to the coast of Scotland in a submarine in the recent German raid when the German submarine Uls was sunk. The story is told by one of a German submarine crew.

"We played the concertina when only 1500 yds away from the enemy, and he noticed nothing; but often we noticed nothing ourselves when our motors were running more noisily than usual. Our ears did not hear what the concertina played, but w« recognised the tune by the movements of the performer, by his face, by his fingers as they slipped over the stops, by his feet as they beat time, and by the instrument itself; and we all shouted the song together, shouted as loud as our lungs would let us. Yet we heard nothing of our own singing, so noisy are the engines of a submarine.

"What do I know of our trip to the Scotish coast? Almost nothing. We only knew one thing—victory or death! It is certainly not comfortable in a nutshell like that. The space for the crew is not quite a dancing hall, and what the lungs have to breathe is hardly mountain air. Petrol; that's what it is; petrol all the time. Oue gasps for air when the thing comes up to the surface.

We were 10 days away. We did not know where we were going. 'To death or victory; 1 don't know any more mvself at present,' said our commander. Then out we went with the other submarines. We never saw the UIS again; the enemy did for her. We went along the whole of the English coast, sometimes under water, six hours' work and six hours' sleep, 10 long days. There were no orders, you could hear nothing for the noise.

"You are like a deaf mute; you hear with the eyes and talk with the hands and feet as it suits you. A little kick means: 'You there! wake up! The mate wants you!' There is a deuce of a lot of work for the small crew, particularly when the boat is under water and everybody has to be at his poet. So it went on for days, now above the waves, now below. That was the only change we had. "Then quo day there was a sudden sensation. One after the other each of us was allowed to leave his post for a minute and have a look through the periscope. It was the finest sight of my life! There like a flock of peaceful lambs lay a British squadron as heedless as if there were no German sea-wolves in armoured clothing. " For two hours we were at the advance post under water. We could have certainly fetched a big battleship under water to keep us company, but we were not allowed to. We were on patrol duty and our boat had to go on. I wonder what our commander felt like— close to the enemy and having to leave the torpedo in its tube. He must have felt like a hunter who on the day before the opening of the shooting season suddenly sights a splendid stag only 30 gaces away.." ,