"THE REAL THING”

New Zealand Times, Volume LIII, Issue 12393, 12 March 1926, Page 11

"THE REAL THING”

A MINIATURE BATTLE STORMING OF THE TRENCHES. The battle practice represented something like the real thing, but on a miniature seal©, all manoeuvres Doing carried out in an enclosure of about a quarter acre, elaborately equipped to appear as the war zone. On the irregular land surrounding the trenches and No Man’s Land, houses and army stpree were dotted about, and on the top of the hill overlooking the scene was the stately spire of a church. All was ready for the battle, and a team of eight men under a _fire unit commander occupied the defending trenches, while the enemy (represented by mechanically propelled figures at different parts of the battle ground) prepared to attack in force. OVER THE ENEMY LINES An aeroplane flits across the field high up, and conveys the information that the defenders of the trench have attained the superiority of the air, and reports that the enemy is concentrating behind the landscape. The movement in the enemy lines indicates an early attack on the defending trench, and the position has to he held at all cost. ~ Each section of eight men is allowed into the enclosure when' all is ready for the battle, and as they take their places in Hie trench their fire unit commander, takes charge of their movements on she field, the object of the competition to train the leaders in strategy and file unit control, when faced with the unexpected and united approach of the enemy. A platoon of enemy soldiers comes down the road on the left to the.roserve trench, ; and the battle begins. Then to the right of- the. trench another platoon comes in,, rapid fire greeting its movements under cover. Anything is likely to happen, and with each new development in the enemy’s advance the platoon leader gives the necessary order with the required number of rounds to put them out of existence. OVER THE TOP Infantrymen lined the enemy support trench, while those in the front line were covering the approach of waves of troops which came over on the right. Almost immediately a runner broke from cover, and slid along co warn the machine-gun section on the left of the position of the defending trench. The machine-gunner showed himself, and when put out of action, feil back to give place to infantrymen at this parapet. ' Then the main body of front line men of the enemy came over the top, and advanced towards the defending trench in two wings, finally occupying a trench close into that of ■ the firers. Upon the order fo cease fire, it was explained by Major Henderson —under whom the tests had been executed — that the final part of the performance would be to some extent imaginary, inasmuch as it comprised the final defence of the trench under the gas attack of tho enemy. A GAS ATTACK In illustration of this, a gas shell exploded immediately in front of the trencli, and to represent the dash across No Man’s Land of the attacking troops dummy figures were Bwung suddenly from their concealment above the trench. If the practice were carried out in the minutest detail, these figures would have to he rushed with fixed bayonets, hut at this meeting no bayonets are allowed in the camp on account of a previous mishap. The whole practice was a series of

surprises, and was extremely interesting from the first alarm. The test of a team’s success fell on the leader as an individual commander, for upon him rested the jurisdiction as to how he would handle the various movements of the approaching enemy. The southern command topped the aggregate points, Northern and Central following in order. The shooting was reported by Major. Henderson to bo quite good.

THE NIGHT PATROL The second phase of the night firing possessed a suggestion of the grim reality of war, and was conducted in absolute darkness with the Vickers guns. Whereas last evening Verey flai es were used to light the sky and reveal the targets, to-night’s tests had to he carried out by teohnical adjustment, the direction of the targets being laid out one hour after sunset and marked by the night, firing lamp. The night was quite still, and the spluttering reports of the guns resougded through the stilly air. The sensation of standing near the guns was a peculiar one, the only accurate indication of the origin of the fire being the steady spurt of flame which issued from the muzzles as the Vickers spat forth their hail of lead. Although this was an elementary test, it is stated by the Colonel that next year’s competition will cover a more extensive range. WIN FOR PERMANENT STAFF. Immediately prior to the commencement of the day’s shooting, the. chief executive officer (Colonel Burgess) addressed the men, and ■, complimented them upon their discipline during the time they had been in camp.- Not only had their conduct been good, he said, but tho shooting had been of a high order, and he was particularly pleased with the manner in which the night firing had been conducted. The Permanent Staff retai tied possession of the Services Shield, defeating the Navy team by a margin of 81 points. Throughout the meeting, the Navy men have shot with consistency, and a large percentage of the team entered in the -individual matches showed creditable cards in the prize list. Snortly after the conclusion of the King’s Medal Match to-morrow morning, the. prizes will- he' presented by the Minister for Defence (Hon. F. J. Rolleston). This event is expected' to occur before lunch, after which the camp will break up. The officials expressed their gratification that everything had gone with a swing, enabling them to clear all events except the King’s Medal up this evening. The absence of rain was, of course, a factor.

THE SHOOTING REGIMENTAL TEAMS RIFLE MATCH. £l6, challenge shield, and a trophy to each member of the team—N.Z.P.S. Central Command (S.S.'M. W. J. Fisher, S.B. J S. Thompson, S.S.M. J. Ryan, S.S.M. G. P. O’Leary. S.S.M. J. H. Kearney, S.S. P. Mackenzie, S.S.M. W. Milroy, S.S.M. W. Ritzemer) 632 £l2 and a trophy to each mem- • her of the team—lst Bat- ( talion Wellington Regiment Cfierprt. E. W. Jenson. C.S.M. M. Cowan, Sergt. F. Williams, G. E. Parker, C.S.M. W. Deller. Privates J. H. Gagliardi, E. Hughes, J. A. Ashman) 603 £lo—Royal Nnvv (Sergt. Hiscock, P.O. Nash, Sergt. Howard. Corp. Mealing, Ginn, Halloran, Mason, A.B. Durham) 590 £B—lst Battalion Auckland Regiment ; 587 £6—lst Waikato Regiment 568 £4—Southern Command. N.Z.P.S. 559 NIGHT FIRING, With Lewis Gun and Rifles. £B—lst Battalion Otago Regiment 41 £6—lst Battalion WW.C. Regiment, Wellington 40 £4—N.Z. Division, Royal Navy... 36 £2—lst Battalion H.B. Regiment, Napier 33 NIGHT FIRING, With Hotchkiss Guns and Rifles, £B—6th Mounted Rifles, Mana£4—lst Mounted Rifles, "b’.Y.'C.',' Christchurch 20 £4—Bth Mounted Rifles, Marlborough ■. 20 McKinley challenge cup (For Lewis Guns). Northern Depot, N.Z.A.S.C 60 Southern Depot, N.Z.A.S.C 45 Central Depot, N.Z.A.S.C 22 STAFFORD CHALLENGE SHIELD (Battalion, Vickers and Lewis Guns and Rifle Teams Match). Ist Battalion, Auckland Regiment (Reg. Teams Match 587, Vickers guns 62, Lewis guns 109) 758 VICKERS MACHINE GUN MATCH. £ls, Vickers Challenge Trophy, and a trophy to each member of the team —Bth ' N.Z.M.R. Blenheim (Sergt. L. M. Browne, L.C. G. isherwood, Troopers P. Horton, A. Litchfield, and J. Br'ougham) 91 £lO and a trophy to each member of the team—lst M.R.. C. Christchurch (Corp. D. H. Montgomery, Troopers H. Thomson, L. L. Purcell, C. R. McCallum, J. C. Lloyd) 1 74 £7 10s—1st Battalion H.B. Regiment, Napier (Sergt. L. J. Knuckey, Privates P. Crawford, A. Willmott, J. Forrest, J. Townshend) 64 £s—lst Battalion Auckland Regiment 62 £2 10s—1st W.W.C. Regiment, Wellington 60 Sixteen teams competed.

LEWIS' GUN MATCH. £l2, the Lewis Challenge Trophy, and trophy to each member of the team—l6th Battery, Christchurch (Bdr. E. H. Weir, J. Dawson, C. Hoe, and J. Fletcher) 1 £lo—lst Battalion Auckland Regiment (L.C. A. C. Conchie, M. E. Gillespie, M. L. Gillespie, and M. G. Larritt) 2 £s—lst Battalion North Auckland Regiment (Sergt. L. W. Reaney, G. Watt, J. Fox, and L. Robertson) 3 £2 10s —C Company, Ist Battalion Otago Regiment (L.C. K. Nissen, K. P. Tompkins, J. A. Hunt, and M. C. Moore) 4 BATTLE PRACTICE COMPETITION (Cadets). £4 10s Southern Command (Leader, Corporal W. W. Abel) 416 £2 5s Northern Command (Leader, C.S.M. Faville) 297 Central Command (Leader, Ser- . geant J. J. Boon') 273 BATTLE PRACTICE (Territorials). £9—Northern Command 453 £4 10s—Southern Command 362 Central Command 360 N.Z. SERVICES MATCH. £l6, the challenge shield, and a trophy to each member of the team—N.Z. Permanent Staff (S.S.M. Bates, Lieut. Denton, S.S.M.’s Ritzema, Kearney, Ryan, Jordan, O’Leary, S.S. Thomson) (ids; £8 and a trophy to each member of the team—Royal N avy (Sergeant Howard, Sergeant fiiscotik, Mason, Ginn, Hal- „„ Jornn, PO. Nash, Durham) ... 588 L6—-Noitliern Command Territorials (Privates Tapper, Pearce, Lyons, AVillmott, Corporal Poolman, Sergeants Bradlev and Brett) 549 Six teams competed. ,