NOW PREPARED

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23767, 21 September 1940, Page 13

NOW PREPARED

5 I l| ' FIT TERRITORIALS jv'f : ' " : THREE MONTHS' WORK j eesults demonstrated I Judged by the standard of efficiency 8 attained by the Ist Battalion, AuckI land Regiment, consolidated training 5 0 f 'territorials over three months has I proved a success. ' Unquestionably the unit could do with more than three 4; months, so that more time could be given to the individual field training which precedes the"collective training upon which it is now engaged, but it is s shaping ve:rv well and is a battalion in which every officer and man may take pride. The first of the infantry battalions

to be given the consolidated training, the Ist Auckland started with jnany handicaps which others may escape. It had ,lost a- great number of its officers and non-commissioned officers to the Expeditionary Force! so that many of

'those now serving are new or have come- from the reserve. Then the officers and non-commissioned officers had only one month of intensive training at the northern military district school at Narrow 'Neck before they took over their men. Their successors 'of other units and arms of the sen-ice hare had, or are having, at least two months. Again, many of the men did not join the companies until after they •n-ere mobilised for training, with the result that valuable time in the first ■vreeks hid to be given to organisation father than training.

Full Equipment Yet the battalion was fortunate in that,, as it was required, it was given practically every article of equipment necessary lor a unit on service, and this undoubtedly encouraged all ranks to rise .superior to its handicaps. For

the first two months the men lived at their homes and trained during the day. During this month it has been under • canvas at the. Epsom Show Grounds. All ranks have fired the weapon training courses with the rifle and the Lewis gun, while the Support Company has been exercised with its Vickers guns and mortars. They havp been taught how to site trenches, wire them and hide them, how to link the companies and prists with the signals gys'teni, how to j>atrol and scout, and lon- to attack with each section suptorting the of its neighbours y its fire, and how to make use of cover. The fruits of this training were seen yesterday when the battalion carried out'a further stage, of an exercise near Penrose prepared jfor it by Major W. W. Dove, M.C., N.Z.S.C., general staff officer (!?) of the northern military district. The previous day the battalion had taken up a defensive line which it held through the night by means of section and platoop posts, and vesterdav it went forward to drive back to the Taniaki River a body of raiders, represented by the Ist Field Company of the New Zealand Engineers.

Night Exploits There were bright moments during the night. The sergeant of the battalion intelligence platoon did a midnight reconnaissance of the raiders' position in a style strongly reminiscent of the work of the immortal Dick Travis, Y.C. He located most of the raiders' posts, and their headquarters, he took three prisoners, watched the action of a fighting patrol and presented a concise report of his activity. His'work was more than balanced by a sergeant, of the engineers who, by a .process"of bluff, got through the battalion sector, learned the pass words, and left visible evidence of the fact that he had bombed origade headquarters, and the Penrose railway station. In their innocence, many of the vigilant sentries of the defence were proved ready to hand on the pass word after they had accosted' passers-by in the night.' - The exercise yesterday was assisted by two of. the Royal New Zealand Air Force machines. It was here that the thoroughness of much of the early training of the battalion was demonstrated. The lig;ht automatic _ guns mounted, for protection against aircraft cKere brought into action by the section non-commissioned officers as soon as the machines came within range, good fire control was exercised and the men operating the giins fired, followed the aircraft and changed the magazines vith as much zes'; as if it were the real thing. In fact feo much_ fire was brought to bear that it is doubtful whether the aeroplanes would have survived. Transport drivers, too, made haste to conceal thejr vehicles against hedges or under trees as soon as the air raid alarms were given. This phase of- the activities yesterday, as well as the camouflaging of the posts and newly dug ground; was very fine. Service, Conditions There were faults in carrying out the attack, just as always happens in a lham battle. Some were obvious and should not have occurred, such as the assembly of a platqon in the open while they were told their task and others which were halted in the open short of the starting line. Others were Jess obvious and are learned only by such training, as the battalion is now undergoing. What was' particularly noticeable and commendable was the control of the "sections by the junior non-com-missioned officers, the concerted action of the men. and the manner in which aections supported each other. / After the exercise, the officers were brought together while LieutenantColonel C. •P. Worley, Y.D.. Major pove and other participants discussed it and the night's, operations in. detail and the lessons to be learned. All traces of trenches, wire and camouflage were removed and the battalion, returned to its camp. It had lived and been fed tinder- service conditions for two days, the whole exercise showing that even *"ith only three months consolidated training the battalion was shaping to take a good place with the service battalions of the Auckland Regiment of the past.

TAIHAPE PtfBLIC MEETING LITTLE INTEREST 'SHOWN [by TEr.KGRAFH —OWN correspondent] 'TAIHAPE, Friday A protest against the poor attendance at a public meeting at Taihape to form a Home Guard committee was T °i?(?(l by Mr. T. C. Lowrv, who said the main purpose of the guard was to protect the country in the event of invasion, He thought something was radically wrong when only 20 or so people attended a meeting of this kind. If a Home Guard of 120,000 men could be formed in New Zealand to supplement tue territorial strength it would make a 'l the difference in case of invasion. The Mayor, Mr. L. B. H. Delautour, replied that public meetings at Taihape never well attended unless there a prospect of a dispute. He thought ,£j la t as soon as enrolment of Home Guard started there would "S niany applications."

tOANS AND DONATIONS

[ 'TELKGUAIMI-yPRESS ASSOCIATION] WELLINGTON". Friday

*r e .Minister of Finance, the Hon. V* Nash, . announced to-day that interest-free loans and donations had reached the total of £2,573,721.