ARMY STAFF

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23780, 7 October 1940, Page 9

ARMY STAFF

COLONEL W. H. CUNNINGHAM

• IMPORTANT CHANGES three brigadiers defence organisation TRAINING OF .50,000 MEN jjjjy TELEGRAPH SPECIAL REPORTER] WELLINGTON. Sunday Important administrative changes in •{he home defence units of the land forces of New Zealand were announced to-day by the Minister of Defence, the Hon. F. Jones. He said that the Army tras being placed on a footing both in organisation and training that would facilitate a smooth and rapid changeover should mobilisation become necessary. "It will be obvious that an organisation suitable for peace conditions with a Territorial Force of IG.OOO will not answer the demands which would be placed upon it should an army of over 40 000 be required, to defend these shores," Mr. Jones said. Three Divisional Heads "The Government has, therefore, decided that the commanders of the j,iore important formations and their principal staff officers should hold their appointments in peace in order to enable them to, study the various tactical and administrative problems with which they might be faced in war. This decision will also 'enable these comjiiaiiders to undertake the training of their staffs, a provision which is very necessary in view of the number of highly-trained officers who have gone overseas with the Expeditionary force." The following three officers have been granted the temporary rank of brigadier and posted as follows.: Colonel F. H. Bell. D.5.0., to command the Ist (Northern) Division, with headquarters at Auckland.

Colonel 0. H. Mead, C.8.E.. D.5.0., to command the 3rd (Southern) Division, with headquarters at

Jl, Christchureh. Colonel X. W. McD. Weir, to command the 2nd (Central) Division, with headquarters at Wellington. The appointments will take effect as from October 14. -

Field Force Leaders The following additional changes will also date from October 14. Colonel I?. A. Row. D.5.0.. to command the Northern Field Force. Colonel E. T. Rowlings, to command

the Southern Field Force. lieutenant-Colonel L. Potter, from G. 5.0.. northorn district, to com-

mand the Central Field Force, with the temporary rank of colonel. Xieutenant-Colonel' A. E. Conway, 0.8.E.. to be Adjutant-General, with the temporary rank of colonel. Lieutenant-Colonel L. G. Goss. to be colonel of the General Staff, with the temporary rank of colonel. Lieutenant-Colonel H. E. Avery, C.M.G.. D.5.0., to be Qnarter- "• master-General, with the temporary rank of colonel.

-BRIGADIER N. W. McD. WEIR

Mr. Jones explained that the Government had further considered the command and administration of the land forces.-allotted for home defence in relation to the considerable expansion recently decided upon. He said the formation of further traits of the Territorial Force would be undertaken as soon as the necessary arrangements to train the officers and non-commissioned officers could be made.

The units of -the national reserve and independent mounted rifles which had been and were now being; organised had further increased the number ot men to be controlled bv the Army authorities. The total, 'including reinforcements in training for the Expeditionary Force, would be nearer 50,000 than 40,000 in the near future. Special Stafl Course "The necessity t for having an adequate defence force for this Dominion has all along been recognised by the Government, and the plans that were originally adopted have been expanded from time to time to meet the changing conditions," the Minister added.

BRIGADIER O. H. MEAD The training of commanders and staffs would be carried out progressively in each district, but as a first step in that direction a staff course Jfas now being held,. This .would ba

followed shortly by a course for commanders of formations and their staffs, who would have an opportunity at a later date,of putting the knowledge thus gained into practice when their formations would bo assembled for brigade training. This training would be carried out in December and March, when the units comprising these brigades would be at the end of their three months' course of intensive training. "It will be seen." Mr. Jones said, "that the training of the forces necessary for home defence is being proceeded with at the greatest possible speed. The position is improving every day, and no effort is beinc; spared to secure more modern equipment of every description to supplement or roplace that at present available. ''The staff changes that are being made will involve the transfer of two members of the Army Board. Colonel Bell and Colonel Mead, and I shall be sorry to lose their service at Headquarters. where both have proved efficient officers. They are to be engaged on work of great responsibility, however, and I am sure that those officers who are to take their places in Wellington will prove able successors. "I can assure the public," the Minister said in conclusion, "that, the Territorial Force at the conclusion of_ its intensive training will be an efficient force which can be relied upon to render a good account of itself should our shores be threatened."

BRIGADE COMMAND COLONEL W. H. CUNNINGHAM The appointment of Colonel W. H. Cunningham to command the Bth New Zealand Infantry Brigade Group, which is now in training, is announced in the Gazette. A lawyer by profession. Colonel Cunningham served in Egypt, Gallipoli and France during the last war, and was wounded on Gallipoli. He was mentioned four times in despatches and was awarded flic D.S.O.

Educated at the Wanganui Boys' High School and Wanganui College, lie was admitted as a solicitor in 1907 and as a barrister in 1912. For a number of years Colonel Cunningham practised in Wauganui, but he went to Wellington after the war. and was elected president of the Wellington District Law Society in 1935. In the same year he was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire, and he also holds the Victorian Decoration. He was appointed Crown Prosecutor at Wellington in the following year, at the age of 52.

DIVISION HEADS NOTABLE SERVICE FAMILIAR IN AUCKLAND SENIORITY OF COMMANDS All three of the officers who have been appointed to command divisions under the reorganisation and expansion of the Dominion's home defence forces are familiar to Aucklanders. Brigadier N. W. McD. Weir at present commands the district; Brigadier O.«H. Mead immediately preceded him; and Brigadier P. H. Bell has also served here before.

Brigadier N. W. McD. Weir, N.Z.S.C., who has. been the junior colonel of the three now promoted, has been officer commanding the northern military district since toward the beginning of last year. He has been particularly successful in his direction of the district's war effort , and in his charge of expanding facilities to meet new needs, proving himself a highly capable administrator. Wounded at GaAipoli

One of the first 10 New Zealand cadets at Duntroon Military College, New South Wales, when it opened in 1911, he graduated in August, 1914, and was immediately posted to the Auckland Battalion. He served at Gallipoli, but was badly wounded and invalided back to New Zealand. After a prolonged convalescence he was able to take a post as musketry instructor at Trentham and Featherston, with the rank of captain. After the war he was appointed to a staff position at Tnvercargill and subseqwontlv served a term as liaison ofiiccr in Australia. He commanded, as major, the New Zealand contingent which went to England for the Coronation of King George \l., and afterward was attached to the "War Office for a time, taking part in six weeks' manoeuvres with a mechanised infantry brigade in East Anglia. The Senior District During the Great War Brigadier Bell held various appointments in the New Zealand Riflo Brigade and commanded, in turn, the Ist and 2nd Battalions. He served in Western Egypt in the Senussi campaign and in France, being wounded three times and receiving mention in despatches thrice. In addition he was awarded the D.S.O. and Croix de Guerre. Brigadier Bell was appointed to command the southern military district in 19:}7, but at the beginning of this year was appointed Quartermaster-General at General Headquarters, Wellington. He has been the senior colonel and thus takes command under the new arrangement of the senior command, the northern military district. Brigadier Mead * Brigadier 0. H. Mead served with the New Zealand Division throughout the Great War. He was wounded twice, mentioned in despatches twice, attained ! the rank of lieutenant-colonel and the command in turn of the Ist and 2nd Battalions, Canterbury Regiment, and was awarded the D.S.O. Returning to New Zealand in 1919, ' in the same year Brigadier Mead was appointed to the New Zealand Staff Corps with the rank of captain. He was ! at the Staff College, Camberley, for two ' years and was attached to the War Office, liondon, in 1929. Since then ho i has divided his service between the northern district and Army Headquarters in Wellington. He is the next in seniority to Brigadier Bell and taJtes command of the district next in seniority.