TRAINING AT HOME.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 16591, 14 January 1916, Page 8

TRAINING AT HOME.

A REPORTER IN THE. RANKS. ' Private George Pearson, late of the Timaru Herald reporting staff, and now of the 15th reserve battalion Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, writing to a friend in Tim ara from Gailos Camp, Ayrshire, says, inter alia, that he was now a unit of Kitchener's great and historic new army. Private Pearson went into camp first at Witley, Surrey, but was not sorry when the order came to pack up and malco for Scotland again. Gailos Camp is situated on the west coast, about 10 miles from Ayr._ It is a very fine situation for a camp, right in the heart of Scotland's most famous golf links, b:it in winter, such as at present, it is exposed t-o bitter winds, "tho more bitter when you think of us turning out at 7 a.m. in kilts L, ... We have been going hard at drill" now for over a week, and were to-day shifted from tho recruits' squad to tho cormianicc." Private Pearson goes on to say that he was anxious to get through with company drill as soon as possible, as he wanted to get into the signalling squad, which will be commencing soon. So far as his experience of soldiering went, he liked it immensely. "The life is rough and ready. . . . We are kept steadily at work. Reveille sounds at 6 a.m., and first parade is 7 a.m. We generally have a route Tnarnii for an hour, and have breakfast from 8 till 9. From 9 till 12.30 we have physical drill, sq'.md drill in close or extended order, and' a march, or one long route inarch. Then from 2 till 4 wo are again hammeringat drill, broken perhaps by a short lecture on a competent subject. . . . There is no lack of exhilaration in solHiering under those conditions."