NAVAL AND MILITARY NOTES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23463, 30 March 1938, Page 6

NAVAL AND MILITARY NOTES

FROM MESS DECK, PARADE GROUND, AND RIFLE RANGE By Bull’s-eye OTAGO DIVISION, R.N.V.R. Weekly Training The division assembled on Tuesday and Wednesday last. A good attendance was present. After inspection at divisions and prayers, the division proceeded to classes for instruction as follows: — Seamanship.—Class B ordinary seamen to practical rope and wire-splic-ing. Gunnery.—Class A ordinary seamen and able seamen recommended for gunnery were exercised at 4in gun drill. Mine-sweeping.—Class C ordinary seamen went to a lecture on the "A” and Oropesa mine-sweeping equipment. Signals.—All signal ratings continued practical signalling by semaphore and tight in conjunction with instruction in naval procedure in handling messages. Training Afloat. —Ratings embarking in H.M.S. Leith during the forthcoming mine-sweeping operations were taken to instructions in practical signalling in preparation for embarking on Saturday, April 2. Wireless. —Senior wireless ratings continued practical W/T communication with the Defence Headquarters Station at Wellington and other R.N.V.R. W/T stations. Probationary and junior wireless ratings continued practice in reading the Morse code by buzzer. Whalers. —Boat pulling and boat sailing will be exercised in both whalers on Saturday afternoons. Rifle Shooting Practice. —.303 rifle shooting practice in preparation for the R.N.V.R. tournament taking place at Trentham during the Easter holidays, was carried out at Pelichet Bay rifle range on Thursday and will be continued again on Thursday next, commencing at 5.0 p.m. Next Drills. —V/S ratings and probationary wireless ratings will assemble on Tuesday next, whilst senior W/T ratings will assemble on Wednesday next. The training programme already in operation will be proceeded with. 3RD COMPOSITE M.R. REGIMENT Annual Camp, 1938 The annual camp of the 3rd Composite Mounted Rifle Regiment will be held at Motukarara Racecourse from April 1 to 10, exclusive of days of arrival and departure. This camp is an important one In the history of the regiment. For the first time since the Great War the unit will be in camp with other units (in the present case, as a squadron) and attached troops forming part of the 3rd Composite Mounted Rifle Regiment. These Include the C.Y.C. and the W.M.M.R., the latter having now been mechanised. The following travelling arrangements have been circulated throughout the regiment, and all members are asked to make themselves thoroughly conversant therewith: — Horses will travel to Motukarara by the 9.50 (night express goods) on Thursday, March 31. Men (other than North Otago and horse guard) will travel to Motukarara by express train at 8.45 a.m. on Friday, April 1. Men and horses will return to Dunedin on Sunday, April 10, leaving Motukarara at 9 p.m. and arriving at Dunedin, 10.30 a.m., Monday, April 11. Men on the Central and Roxburgh line will leave for home on the evening of Monday, April 11, and those for Balclutha and south will leave Dunedin at 5 a.m. on Tuesday. April 12. Troops and horses will travel to Dunedin from Edendale, Lumsden, Mandeville, Gore, Clinton, Owaka, Glenomaru. Balclutha. Teviot, Miller’s Flat, Beaumont and Lawrence on March 30, and from Alexandra, Omakau, Oturehua and Ranfurly on March 31. To Oamaru from Kurow, Duntroon, Pukeuri, Waikouaiti and Palmerston on March 31. Any changes of uniforms or new outfits will be carried out during the unit’s stay in Dunedin on March 31. A comprehensive syllabus of training has been prepared, and may be summarised as follows: — First Day. (Friday).—A and B Squadrons complete pitching of camp and organisation. Second Day.—A Squadron, troop drill; B Squadron, field firing; C Squadron, organisation and troop drill. Third Day.—N.M.M.R. organisation regimental church parade, with recreational training in the afternoon. Fourth Day.—A Squadron, field firing; B and C Squadrons, crew drill, troop drill, and A/A training. Fifth Day.—A and B Squadrons, section leading, advance guard and attack and defence: C Squadron, field firing; Motor Squadron, troop and squadron drill and A/A training. Sixth Day.—A and B Squadrons, troop tactical exercises; C Squadron, section leading and troop tactical exercises: Motor Squadron, field firing and section leading. Seventh Day.—A, B. and C Squadrons, squadron tactical exercises: Motor Squadron, field firing and troop and squadron tactical exercises. Eighth Day.—Regimental tactical exercises. Ninth Day—Regimental tactical exercises directed by officer commanding southern military district. Tenth Day.—Regimental church parade in the morning and sports in the afternoon. The syllabus for Machine Gun Squadron. Light Car Troop, and Signal Troop has also been issued. It will be seen from the foregoing that the troops attending this camp should receive a very valuable training in mounted rifle work during the 10 days, and the O.C. is hopeful that every man will make every effort to attend the camp. COMPOSITE BATTALION The Oamaru Platoon The Oamaru platoon of the Otago Company, 3rd Composite Battalion, carried out week-end training last week-end on the properly of Colonel Cowm Nicholls, Maheno. The commanding officer, adjutant, company commander, and company second-in-command visited the platoon to see the training. The signal and intelligence sections will carry out week-end training at Doctor’s Point on April 9 and 10, Motor Cyclist Platoon There was a satisfactory attendance at the Weekly parade last Tuesday. With the exception of a brief period of platoon drill, most of the evening was devoted to Lewis gun exercises. Week-end Training It is proposed to arrange for weekend training to be carried out in Dunedin on Anzac Day week-end, part of which will be the participation in the parade on April 25. EARLY VOLUNTEERING IN OTAGO 8/6/64 Provincial Council and Select Committee’s Report on Volunteers (continued) For the purpose ol organising an effective force here the committee recommended that the Militia Act should be enforced, and that youths attending the public schools should be educated in military movements. This last was one of the most important of the recommendations, for it was uphill work to drill adults; but by taking advantage of the public schools enough drill might be given to boys to make them easily fall into the thing afterwards. The committee further recommended the supplementing of the allowances made by the General Government for the staff so as to secure drill instructors (the allowance was the same as was made in Auckland, and had been found quite inadequate here)—the allowance of 20s per head for each effective member, the test being based on the number of parades ho attended during the year; the drill shed to be enlarged and floored, and a suitable armory erected—(the expense would not

amount to £200); the country school houses to be utilised for the purposes of drill and the laying out of schools to be arranged so as to get the most available floor space; rifle ranges to be secured in country districts where companies had been formed; prizes to be given for shooting (those of the General Government were so arranged as to show not the best shooting, but if the weather was good or bad in each province on a particular day; and lastly the committee recommended that the sympathy of the influential classes should be shown by their joining in the movement, or by giving those who did so fair opportunities for drill. By the carrying out of these recommendations it would be posible to secure a sufficient force of trained men to protect the province against any small force o: an enemy that might be attracted to these shores by our wealth and apparent helplessness. He begged to move the adoption of the Sir Macandrew seconded the motion. No doubt many wise men regarded the Volunteers as engaging in something like play-acting, or as being a sort of gaudy toy; but he thought the movement deserved the utmost sympathy and support, whether as a means _of protection against foreign aggression or from internal disturbances. It was worth consideration, with the present retrenchment policy, that a well-or-ganised Volunteer force would enable the police to be dispensed with to a great extent. Far be it from him to place Volunteers in the rank of thiefcatchers; but wherever a number of disciplined men were required to put down disturbance, the use of Volunteers would be justified. It was not hhely they would be much needed for that work; but if there were proper steps taken now to encourage the Volunteers, when New Zealand was hoary with the growth of a century, it might be the proud boast of its people that their shores had never been invaded. Mr Moss said that before he afnved in Otago, Volunteering was actively carried on. and a number of members were enrolled; but there were no drill sheds or other conveniences, and the movement gradually dwindled until it was lost sight of altogether. But there came a revival; and he believed he was of the new force, one of the first officers elected in Otago. He felt, therefore, that he was entitled to speak. He declared that no body of men could possibly have shown more perseverance, more zeal. 1 or more devotion to a cause than the Volunteers had done, despite the fact that they had been more than once ridiculed, and were too generally looked upon as toys—gaudy they were certainly not, but the reverse. They had depended far more on drill than on uniform; and that gave them a double claim on the consideration of the Council. At Home men of wealth and position took nip the movement heartily, but the same was not the case in Otago, nor in New Zealand generally, he believed. The best Volunteers here—those who attended regularly—were, as a whole, the working men of the colony; they formed the greater proportion; and they, out of their own pockets, had paid for the movement. Men who worked hard for their daily bread had not hesitated to spend £8 or £lO in this way, but now they could not afford more, and either the movement must be encouraged, until there was an efficient force, or there must again be a falling off. When, recently, the volunteers received £l3O from the General Government to pay for their uniforms, they were so unselfish that they determined not to put the money into their own pockets, but to give the greater part to the support of a cadet band, and to devote the remainder to making the necessary alterations in the new uniforms when they came to hand. It was the duty of the Government here to take the place of the wealthy in other countries, and to support the volunteer movement actively and otherwise. It would save a large amount in respect to the militia, and it would secure a body of men superior to any militia that could be called out. It would be a great and serious evil if the volunteers who needed now so little encouragement to secure efficiency were allowed to fall back; for it would then be years before another body would be got to acquire so much proficiency. He trusted the council would now meet the volunteers in an encouraging spirit, and would show that they appreciated the efforts made by voting the small demands which the Select Committee had made on their behalf. Mr Brodie thought it due to express sympathy with the volunteer movement as in which there was a large amount of work involved, while there was certainly no pay, and it was questionable if there were any thanks. The movement should certainly be encouraged: but without a proper training in youth there would never be an approach to a proper defence of the colony. Mr Blair supported the motion. Mr John Cargill, in reply, said it was well known that the British race, above all others, were gifted with the talent of shooting—that they were the best marksmen in the world; but that talent lay neglected here. So long as the volunteer movement did not receive more active sympathy than at present, there was nothing for it but to allow the Militia Act to come into force; and that Act would simply say. “As you will not do your duty as of yourselves, we will drag out, whether you will or not, and make you do it.” The motion was put and carried, 9/6/64.—Mr John Cargill moved:- “ That his Honor the Superintendent be requested to forward a copy of the report on the Volunteer Force to the General Government, soliciting their active co-operation in carrying out the same.” Mr Moss seconded the motion, which was agreed to.