INFANTRY CAMP

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23811, 18 May 1939, Page 6

INFANTRY CAMP

3RD COMPOSITE BATTALION The troops of the 3rd Composite Infantry Battalion assembled at Burnham on Saturday and have now settled down to serious training. The battalion is made up from the following regimental depots:—Nelson, Marlborough and West Coast, Otago and Southland. All told, the camp strength is 49 officers and 850 rank and file, making it the largest attendance at camp since the intro-, duction of the voluntary system. The camp commandant is Lieu-tenant-colonel J. M. Samson, and associated with him are Major C. M, Rout, as second in*command, Captain A, P. McCormack, N.Z.S.C., adjutant, and Captain I. Patterson, quartermaster. Few of the men present have ever experienced a camp of even onethird the size of the present one, and it is an entirely new experience to them. So far the weather has been excellent, and although the first morning there was a hard frost, the nights have not proved unduly cold. The first and second days were devoted to somewhat elementary training, with a view to more advanced work later in the camp, finishing off with a series of tactical exercises.