THE DEFENCE FORCES.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 15707, 8 March 1913, Page 5

THE DEFENCE FORCES.

Bi Sentry,

[Items of interest oonoeraing corps (town and oonntry), shoouuu, aud rtdenoe matters generally will be nocepted Copy, addres&ed to " benlry," eboukl be lu haii'l by noon od Thursday.] Major W. G. Braithwaito, D.5.0., Imperial General Stall, General Staff Officer, Auckland District, is granted the temporary rank of lieutenant-colonel whilst so employed. .Major J. K. Cochrane, Imperial General Staff, Director of Military Operations, is granted the temporary rank of lieutenant-colonel whilst so employed. Captain the Hon. R. H. Collins, D.5.0., Imperial General Staff, lias been granted the temporary rank of lieutenant-colonel whilst employed as adjutant-general to the forces. Second Lieutenant A._ T. G. Rhodes, Grenadier Guards (special reserve), has been appointed to be aide-de-camp to the General Officer Commanding New Zealand Military Forces. As the result of the recent examination the following non-commissioned officers of the New Zealand Staff have been appointed lieutenants :— Sergeant-majors E. C. Dovey (W. 0.), J. M. Rose, W. Atwell (W. 0.), P. B. Henderson, J, Bishop (W. 0.), T. M'Cristell. The crack of the rifle morning as well as evening, the twinkle of the signaller's lamp in the evening, and the picturesque group of nine tents at Pelichet Bay during the first half of this week, told of the voluntary encampment of the local Infantry Signal Company for the purpose of concentrating on' the musketry course. The value of this plan is shown in the fact that in three mornings and evenings the whole of the company got through the 10 instructional practices, which, taken at occasional evening parades, would possibly have extended over a month. In addition, 10 men were put through the standard tests. These tests are fairly exacting for the recruit, and only tw.o so far have qualified for badges. The company had the advantage afforded by the presence of quite a number of the instructional staff, Staff Sergeants-major Purdon, Cuttle, Bishop, Catto, and Healy assisting! Some good shooting was done, one or two possibles being registered. The men entered camp on Monday evening, and finished up on Thursday morning, when reveille was at 4.45, and by 7.30 a.m., after some shooting had been done, camp was struck and everything cleared up. The company had' the splendid muster of 54 out of a strength of 56. Orders were issued for a parade to-day (Saturday) to complete the standard tests, but owing to the fact that other troops will be using the range this parade has been cancelled. For the Otago Rifle Association's meeting at Easter entries are due on March 14. The. proposal made this time through our correspondence columns, that patriotic citizens might, with a view to encouraging tho young Territorial to take an interest in shooting, volunteer to pay the entry fees for some of the young shots, is commended to the attention of honorary Territorials and others interested in the New Zealand defence scheme.

Owing to No. 2 Company N.Z. Garrison Artillery having to attend camp at Easter, the Otago Rifle Association will lose several entries. 1 To afford those gunners of No. 2 Company N.Z.G.A. who were not able to attend drill at the beginning of the year a chance to make themselves efficient before camp, it has been arranged to have drill on Monday and Wednesday evenings. Before the company was dismissed on Monday evening the following promotions were notified :—Gunner Connor, to be corporal ; Gunners Fairmaid and Stark, to be bombardiers. A Coast Defence Detachment, comprising in the meantime one Infantry Company from the 13th (North Canterbury and Westland) Regiment, has been formed at Westport. A further sign that interest in rifle shooting is spreading is the announcement in the latest issue of the New Zealand Gazette of the acceptance of the services of six new Defence Rifle Clubs, including the Oamaru Defence Rifle Club and the Waianakarua Defence Rifle Club.

Tho appointment of Colour-sergeant A. C. Crimp, of the 4th (Otago) Regiment, to bo second ■Lieutenant"" (on probation) is gazetted. Second Lieutenant-1. S. Orbell, Unattached List (b), has been- promoted to lieutenant. '

THE MATARAE CAMP. ■ Very pleasant conditions have so far prevailed for the Field Artillery Brigade and Engineers camp at present being held some two miles south of Sutton. The weather has been excellent, the only break so far being a slight fall of rain on Tuesday 'afternoon, which caused but little inconvenience, while it served to lay the dust on the roads. There are in camp-B Battery (Dunedin), C Battery (Invercargill), and No. 2 Company Engineers. The parade stataj are excellent, and the men _ are showing a keenness and even enthusiasm in their work that is extremely gratifying to those over them, and should make the instruction being received of immense practical benefit. Talking of the parade states, it is worthy of mention that of a full strength in B Battery of 116 no fewer than 110 have turned out, and the remaining half-dozen are absent either through sickness or. sheer inability to attend.

Following are the details of the camp strength: —

B Battery, 110 strong, under Major Ritchie, who has associated with him Lieutenants Falla, Oowic, Chrystall, and Richards, Rev. 0. J. Bush-King, and Major O'Neill (medical). . 0 Battery, with a total strength of 80, under Captain Lennie and Lieutenant Paterson, Rev. T. A. Pybus, and Captain Crawford (medical). No. 2 Company Field Engineers, with Major Waite in command, associated with whom are Captains Smith and Williams and Lieutenant Dow, while Captain Newlands and the Rev. Graham Balfour are surgeon and chaplain respectively. Ser-geant-major Dollimore, R.E., is attached for instructional duties. The total strength of the Engineers in camp is 107, a section of the company having arranged to put in its training with the infantry brigade. Tho ('troops arrived at Sutton on Saturday, C Battery about 3 p.m., and B Battery and the Engineers a couple of hours later. The men detrained, and the horses' guns, and gear were unloaded with every despatch, practically everyone being in camp before darkness set in. Although a number of men from the permanent force had been 'in camp a little in advance of the brigade, it was found on arrival that any arrangements that had been made were of a rather unsatisfactory nature. Fortunately, small advance parties of men from the various companies who had gone up the day before had accomplished the pitching of the tents. Saturday was spent in getting things "squared up" and generally putting the camp to rights, the hundred and orfe things that require to be done to ensure tho comfort and health of

the men and facilitate the work keeping all hands busy until evening. On Sunday morning united divine service was held by the Rev. Graham 11. Balfour, seniorchaplain, assisted by the Revs. Pybus and Bush-King. A number of residents from

the district and from as far away as Middlemarch were interested, visitors to the camp in the afternoon.

Monday and' Tuesday were mainly devoted to work of an instructional nature by both batteries, though the Engineers plunged at onoe into the intricacies of telephonic and bridge communications, etc. Reveille sounds at 5,30 a.ni. and prayers are said at 6.15, when the men. are paraded. Follows then " stables " —a fairly lengthy business with over 150 horses in camp,—and after breakfast the morning's training begins. A return to camp is generally made shortly after noon, and after attending to the wants of horses and men " fall in " is sounded again at 2 p.m. The afternoon's work is much the same as that done in the morning— manoeuvring and coming into action for the drivers and tire discipline for the gunners. Some blank firing has been done by the C Battery men to enable them to get used to their new 1 guns; but the real work of the camp so far as shooting is concerned was carried out to-day (Wednesday), when B Battery fired an instructional series with the 15-pounders. Owing to defective range-finding instruments on issue, .the targets were at first out of range. W.hen this ivas rectified some fair shooting was done, Lieutenant Chrystall's series being very effective. In the afternoon C Battery had an innings with their new 18-pounders, and the shooting was I a treat to witness. The new guns were intensely admired by all the gunners in camp,.and Captain Lennie and his men are to be congratulated on tho result of the year's training. The country round about is fairly hilly, but no difficulty is being experienced in the matter of transport, the horses being of a particularly stamp, and an improvement on those provided in other years. It is Kipling who says " that the men who do something all round" are the Engineers. In this camp' they have lived Up to their reputation as good soldiers who can shift for themselves. A new badge is being adopted dy the corps, a couple of pincers appropriately flanking the central figure of an artilleryman "rampant."

Their first job was the installation of a telephone line from Sutton Railway Station to the.camp. This, despite the inherent difficulies encountered in such country, was successfully completed by Lieutenant Dow and Sergeant-major Dollimore on Tuesday. The line works splendidly, and has since proved of great convenience to harassed staff officers and the benedicts of the camp.

A 30ft footbridge has been constructed across the Sutton River. Captain Williams and the bridging section have made a first-rate job of this, and a better set of skilled workers tlian this detail would be hard to find. lAfter finishing the Bridge they turned their attention to the erection of cook shops and shelters for the benefit of the infantry and mounted brigades. A large incinerator for camp use was built by the bricklayers of the company, ajid has sinco burnt merrily. Seen from the surrounding hills at night, its fitful flame and dense column of smoke remind one of his schoolboy conception of a volcano. The mounted brigade require watering facilities for their horses, and long inclined approaches to the water have been cut out by the Engineers. The water, supply for the horses at present in camp is pumped from the Suttion into a long canvas trough erected by the sappers. The | cooking and drinking water for the bri-

gado c;trap3' is ako to be, pumped into tanks now being erected by the men. The general tone of the men in all three companies is very satisfactory. The men arc all in high spirits, and great good humour reigns. The advanco party of Engineers considered for some time that their Q.M.S. was the finest fellow in the world. Their hamper of rations consisted of ham and eggs, pickles, and other delicacies (not omitting the rhubarb). These dainties were duly served by the invaluable cook, and not till the brigade headquarters culinary department rolled up its shirt sleeves was the tragic discovery mado

—tho flat-footed sappers had eaten all the titbits of the headquarters mess. A broken box of. tomatoes was promptly salvaged, but the balance iras beyond recall. So the sapper retains his laurels, smiles, and grows - fat. They ha,ve adopted as their motto the well-known injunction : " Pinch, brothers, pinch with care."

. The usual dry canteen is a prominent feature in the camp, while the Rev. BushKing, representing the C.E.M.S., and Mr G. W. W, B. Hughes, secretary of the Y.M.C.A., are in charge of camp institutions, where pianos are provided, and there i s .^ n '.F.- e _ rMdinK mate " a l- On Sunday

evening the Rev. Mr Bush-King lectured oa the life of Christ, on Monday the Rev. Mr Balfour spoke of his visit to Korea, and on Tuesday the Key. Mr Pybus gave an interesting lecture on the British army. Each of the lectures was illustrated with; lantern slides. On Wednesday evening an excellent concert was provided by the Middlemarcli Band (whose playing was greatly appreciated by the soldiers), and the talent 'in camp. At the conclusion of the concert the Rev. Mr Balfour heartily thanked the band, who were then entertained ,in the marquee. Although there have been the inevitable minor accidents there has been no sickness. There is a splendid supply of water running right alongside the camp, the fare is excellent, and the sanitary armagements are complete in every detail, the necessity for scrupulous cleanliness having been sternly impressed upon the men by Majofl O'Neill.