ROYAL NAVAL RESERVE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19977, 20 December 1926, Page 12

ROYAL NAVAL RESERVE.

THE AUCKLAND BRANCH. GOOD WORK ACHIEVED. (Special to Daily Times.) AUCKLAND, December 19. Such excellent results are being obtained in the New Zealand Royal Naval Reserve which has been in existence for some two years in Auckland, that it is hoped to extend the scheme to Wellington, Christ church, and Dunedin next year. The reservists received waim praise from Commodore G. T. C. Swabey, commanding tne New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy, at the annual inter-company competitions at Devonport yesterday afternoon. The competitions included 4in gun drill, ride shooting, signalling, marching, squad and ride drill, and a tug-of-war. The commodore, in a speech at the close of the competitions, said he was very pleased with all the work done. “I am very pleased to have this opportunity of inspecting you—the first since I took com | niand,” he icmarked “I congratulate you on your fine appearance on parade. The precision of your movements and your good marching I was particularly impressed with. The very good gun drill which would not have lieen surpassed by any fulltime ratings, the training we have seen today is a great credit to your officers and instructors. I am especially glad, because this is the first division of the reserve in the Dominion, and the responsibility rests upon you to set a high standard. We hope- in the next financial year, if the money is available, to establish divisions in Wellington, Christchurch, and Dun edin. As a result of what I have seen today, I shall bi» able to report to the Minister oUDefence and the Navy Office that the scheme is a great success, and that they will be fully justified in going on with it in other parts of the country. When it is fully carried out we shall have a line of defence that will ensure the safety of the coasts of the Dominion.” Commodore Swabey added that the trawler Wakakura would be in New Zealand early in the new year, and it would then be possible to enlarge the training of the reserve to include shooting from a moving platform, and, what, was more import ant. minesweeping. In conclusion, the commodore congratulated the men who had carried out their drill regularly for the past two years, despite counter attractions. The demonstration, he said, showed what could be done when people with a will and the intelligence were got together. The reserve consists chiefly of young men from 18 to 21 years of age who take naval training in lieu of service with the Territorials. It also includes a few men who have seen service in the navy. The officers are drawn principally from those who saw service in vhe late war with the Royal Naval Voluntee- Reserve. There are two companies of 60 men each, and a third being formed.