THE DEFENCE FORCES.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 14715, 24 December 1909, Page 14

THE DEFENCE FORCES.

— «.—_^_ By' Sentry:

j [Items of interest coiiccr.iing corps (ttwa | .. ancLconntry). shooting, and defence matters j generally.will be accepted.' Copy, addressed ,lo "Sentry," should be in hand by nb«n on j ■ Thursday.] | I The services of a Defence Kiflo Club 1 at Balfour have been accepted. .;''. ' Major Murphy, of the Second Battalion ' 0.R.V., has been awarded the colonial ! auxiliary forces long-service medal. V' The lesignation ot Captain J. S. Jessep, • of the Oamaru Rifles, has been accepted, i. and' he has been transferred to the active i list (unattached). : The transfer of Captain Searle from the . First Kailway Pioneers to .tho Oamaru liillos, with tho rank cf captain, is gazetted. ijr,.. Tlie secretary of tho Otago Rifle Assooia/ tion has received advice that tho Goverrimont grant- of £35 lias been allotted .'to-; th© ■ association for prizes. ' • ' .' Tho proposed rifle match between the j non-commissioned officers' clubs of Dunedin and Invereargill lias been abandoned in the meantime. To carry out tho first portion ("The ■ Tactical. Handling of the Company in tho Field ") of tho Hardware Association Cup . eoni|ietition, evening parades of companies . ' 'of the First Battalion will' be held at i Caversham tram terminus as follow.—A | Company, Monday, January 10; C-; Company,. Tuesday, January 1; G Company,. ■ Tuesday, January '18. H Company will parade at Ahbotsford at 7.45 p.m. on Monday, January 17. j I The First Battalion will parade at Caver- \ : sham tram terminus on, Saturday. Janu- ' ; ary 22, at 2.45 p.m., when tho'judsring j distance and entrenchment tests for "the Battalion Shield competition will be carried out. This parade will count as a I paid daylight parade. j A strength of 71 is now represented upon I the .roll of the Dunedin City Guards. A ' muster of 68 turned u.p for a paid daylight parade on Monday evening ■ at. Pelichet Bay, where the company' fired for the ; Sargood Cup. Captain Mickey and Ser-geant-major Rassam were present. Members of the company were exercised in advance guard practice, entrenchment*, and judging distance. Tlie parade was made the occasion for presenting to Private • Johnston a memento, in view of bis-ap-proaching, marriage. The company will lie | well represented at the Otago Hi He Associa- | tion's meeting. To encourage young shots i in the company to enter for tho Rifle Association's meeting free ammunition is i issued at the discretion of the Shooting 1 Committee. i The drainage nuisance in connection . with the barracks at Central Batterv has I lx*!i abated as the result of solid'work by the held engineering section of the Dunedin Engineers on Saturday'to. The laborious, pumping will now be a thing ot the past.' Under the expert direction oi Lieutenant Williams the men worked from half-past 2 till half-past.B without dinine. and as the result of. their efforts a lino of pipes' has been laid to eoaduot the drain-

ago into the sand. The task. involved digging a trench through sandhills, in some parts the depth being 12.t0 15 feet, and everyone knows the perversity of dry sand when an attempt is made to excavate in it. Whilst tlnj_ field engineering section was engaged in this work the signalling section, under Lieutenant Laccy, I carried out practice im conjunction with tho members of the Cycle Corps; whilst the telegraph section established connection between the Battery and Lawyer's Head. ;•■ _ ■ ■. ■ ' The Third Battalion Headquarter Companies I A, B, and ,1 Companies, and Oamaru Defence Cadets) will parade at' the Oama.ru Drill Hall on Thuredavs, January 13 and 27, 1910, at 3 p.m., for paid daylight parades. Uniform; Drill order. The upshot of the disturbance during tho week-end camp in connection with thn First Battery O.R.V. is that a. sergeant who wai charged ,with . drunkenness while on duty, leaving camp without permission, returning in: plaiii 'r-Inf.hps. and behaving insolently to an officer, has been reduced to the .ranks in accordance with section 51c of the Defence Act. In taking steps to put down drunkenness end unruly conduct at camps the department is but doing justice to the large sober majority of Volunteers. 'In 1901 Colonel Robin, then commanding the Otago district, presented a cup for competition between the regiments, ol Mounted Rifles and battalions of Infantry in the district, to bo held annually by, the' regiment or battalion making tho* highest average score in collective firing. Since the; cup, was'won by the Fourth Batftli'qn O.R.V. in 1904-5 the. competition''appears : to have been overlooked. The matter has been looked into, and-the cup has npw'hcnii awarded as: follows:—1905-6, 'Fourth Battalion (70 per cent.); 1906-7, Second .Battalion (69.4 per cent.); 1907-8,, Second ■Battalion (71.7 per cent); 1908-9, Second Battalion (63.5 per cent,). Tho Second' Battalion has therefore won the cup three years in succession. The fact constitutes '.'« challenge to other battalions and regiments. Four Otago companies competed for the Sargood Cup this year—Dunediri' City Guards, Kaitangata Rifles, Dunedin Xavals, and Orepuki Rifles. I have heard nothing of tho shooting by tho. last named on Wednesday, and the scores of tho other com- ' petitory arc not available. I understand, -however, that the "shooting of the first three was of a low standard, being not rimeh over 50 per cent. Of the three mentioned it is understood that the Dunedin Oity'Guards did best.Encampments have recently been held by the Second and Third. Battalions Defence' OadeU. The former . went into camp 'at Hazlett's Station, near Thornbury, 123

strong. The latter camped at Oamaru with a strength of 131. Captain Hickey, Assistant Adjutant-genera!, inspected both battalions in camp. Tho work done by the lads in both camps was. very satisfactory the drill in some cases being exceptionally good. The development shown by the Duncdin Officers' Training Corps as the outcome of their short period cf training since the inception of tho corps is worthy of comment, At. the conclusion of tha initial period of training the corns, to the number of 25, held a six days' training camp at Waikouaiti. Major Lascelles was present as instructor. Lieutenant-colonel Smyth, 0.C.D., inspected ; v jhc officers in einb'rvo when in camp, and found a state of efficiency that was- eminently g-ralifvin.,,' in view of the short'spell of "training tho corps had undergone. Even privates, when called upon were able to put. the others through elementary drill. Quito evidently the members of -the corps havo taken' a"' serious view of their training, and aim at making themselves fit for tho responsibilities for which they were called into being as a,corps. It has been said that some riflemen are objecting tc enter for the Otago Rifle Association's meeting because the one-man-one-target principle has not been adopted. Whilst it is admitted that the principle desired is more satisfactory than the practice of two men firing at each target, it is hoped the competitors will take a wider view of the matter, and- not refrain from entering because this particular condition is not approved by them. It is all a question of time, TV. Otago Rifle Association would willingly havc.adopted the one-man-one-target principle but for the fact that considerable extra time would be involved, possibly preventing tho meeting being concluded satisfactorily in two days. Major Ritchie speaks enthusiastically of the prospects of 15 Battery's next camp, which commences on January 22. There are on the roll 104 men. of whom scarcely any are what aro colloquially known as " wasters." The corps has been parading recently over 85 strong. This being probably the last camp under the- present regime, it is the desire of Major Ritchie and his officers that for piactical efficiency and work it should oclii.se all previous achievements, 'i'his year 'tho battery will oamp in Tahuna Park ins! cad of Forburv Park as formerly, 'and in consequence will have a little less elbow room. Major Ritchie, with Lieutenant Roberts and Sergeant-major Miller,, journeyed to Christchurcb to witness the annual shooting by E Battery at Halswcll on Saturday and Sunday. They were hospitably entertained by the local officers, and spent a pleasant and profitable time. TJiey wcro driven around by Sungcon-caplain Diamond in his motor car. The average attendance at camp was about 90. The shooting tost wits mow difficult than last: year. and.the battery showed improvement. In the classification practice, six fcries were fired, three from concealed positions and three from positions in the open. The shortest range used ■wasabout3oCO yardsand the longest nearly 50C0 yards. Tho whole of the practice was carried out under a tactical scheme which 'involved problems of co-operation with, other arms, iu supporting an advanced guard, closely supporting infantry in attack, and tho attacking of artillery in position. The targets were novel and realistic, and consisted of small pieces of tin suspended on string, reprcscntiiag the .flashes of gun and rifle fire. The aerial target was not used, owing to absonce of sufficient wind lo raise it. At the conclusion of the shooting the chief umpire. Captain Richardson, congratulated them on their progress since last,' year. He pointed out that the test tho field artillery' had to undergo was the most difficult' demanded of any arm of tho service, hut that it was only by severe annual tests that they could progress. This was .probably their last shoot as Volunlecis, but ho hoped all would be present in the battery next year under tho new. regime. In tho course of a letter intimating his resignation from the position of president of the Duncdin Non-commissioned Officers' Club, Lieutenant Melville, who did such sterling work for tho institution, writes:— "Needless to say, while a member of your club, it has always been a pleasure for me to assist in trying to further its interests. In'leaving I am pleated to know that the club is in a sound condition, both financially and as regards membership. I trust that the club will have many more useful years j ahead of it, and that it will make itself a. power in military circles. I wish to thank i those members who have been so loyal to the club, and at the annual meeting I hope these membors will be elected officebearers of the club." Colonel Robin; in his reply to tho toast of "The Army and Navy," at, tho Wellington subalterns' dinner, said the future of the new scheme lay in\ the hands of Ihe subaltern officers—the coming captains, majors, lieutenant-colonfils, and so on—aixl ho earnestly urged them lo waste no moment of time, to let no opportunity slip past, wherewith thev. might increase their efficiency as officers of the Defence Forces.