THE DEFENCE FORCES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2902, 27 October 1909, Page 13

THE DEFENCE FORCES.

By Sextbt.

Gazette notifications : — Lieutenant F. W G. Herdman, B Battery, resigned an< posted to active list (unattached) •, Lieu tenant WiUiam Jones, Colac Bay Rifles resigned, ar.d posted to active list <un atiaehed}." One of the sites inspected by Lieutenant coSonei Stoneham and Captain M'Ara ii coiK*eci.ioa with the propo&ao xMssk-ead csdw for felie Ist Battalion O.R.V. adjoins th< Burnside Railway Station — an oor.sideratiou,— and it wjjl -protpHy b< esU-ited if arrangements can be made, Smyth, O.C. District iia 3 inspected the country over which h( proposes to have the manoeuvres carriec out on November 9. If authority is ob "tamed from heac'quarters the 4th Battalion O.R.V. and the Clutha Mounted Rifl€= will be brcaigfht up by rail to oj-^ratc against the lrc.il troop 3. and the irnportaoee and value of the manoeuvres will thus be considerably enhancsd. Boy Scouts were used in connection with tii.j resent military manoeuvres in Canterbury, ''ajxl gained high prais2 for their pacc&.j> in securing information cencernirg tlie en-?niy. The Dun-edin Engineers are to be congraiulafced upon the fact that of thfe 82 on the reil 81 are in camp, the absente? being accounted for as working in tho country. OF 'the total there are no fewer than 32 recruits, and the effect of the pa ro tical tsainii^ upon them is quite remarkable. They .;ntered camp witJi but "little know*le&g3 of soldiering, but .already they are scarcely recognisable from th-e experienced sappers. It is an excellent pro■vision which requires every man in the corps to be a signaller. Tha field engineering section learns ( senia-pboaie signalling, and tho orher practise both Morse and seniaphor?. To ?ho.v ih".t dirciplijie is enforced ard "properly carried cut :n tlie Engineer^, t.he ofiicer conir.iar > din<j tho district (Lieutenantrolonel Smyth) paid tbo company, .a surprise •visit at the Ccntial Battery on Thursday snornirg, and fcund fcliere was not a single Jnambar late on the --bua;le. sour.Kjing tho '' faJl in/ Ho specially mentioned the matter afterwards, ami expressed himself plea.^d st th-T punctuality .shown by members com ing en f.iarad-3. The viiy tatufacbory muster of three officers it'J 23 non-commiyJoned efficeas attom : -?d Ih«> lecture by Captain Hiekey, A.A.G., al lnvercirgill en the 15th. . In ord<u- that -tfiejr "may haye as much as possible of their tirre in camp availab'^ for practical training, the Dunedin Xavals avc pushim: ahnsd with examinations, v.hich they bepj to have completed befo/o entering ica'np. Th 3 Ofncera' Tpaining Gorpe have finished its co*tiv« of drill, and experts to go into camp on Novemher 19. The North Otago Mounted Ri?.c.« we:e inspected in camp. Th-3 squadron had a very satisfactory muster. The O.C. District tc'.d the squadron tioi he vra£ thoroughly pleaced with the : «!pline and tone. The matei-ipl to work upon was excellent, but they r-equirrd more field training. That, cf course, was nst their fault. The time allotted for the mounted corns was all tco shoit. They were jusi gottingr into the swini? of work when the camp came to an end. At least another week was required. The Dunedin Navals and Queen's RiHes, Irom Oamaru, fired a shooting match on I^abour pay at Pellchet Bay, tl:e c-o',di-tions being seven shots and one optional tighter at 200 and 500 jards. After a very clc=o match th-» visitors won by 3 points, th« Qu?en's Rifcs' total being 217 points and the >Ta\ak 2H points. Private Kinnard (62) an<l Sergeant Sr^senajir (63) w«re th« hijrhesfc srorers for th.3 vi«-itoi-=. Gunner Xapier (62) and Leodmg-gunnvr Ple-tcher 159), being the highest for the '_ xvavals. s Providing 1 there is no prior occasion requiring the services of a guard of honour in Dunedin, the DunediiT Engineers will fulfil tho offices of guard of honour to * i?® I*3l^1 * 31^ Lord Kitchener when he yieits 3>unedin. The appointment is not map £ropriate in view of the circumstance that ond Kitchener was lieu-tenant in the EnCtoeers (not the local company) when he want to the Soudan. During the winter the Hussars divide their regular parade nights into one hour for equ*d drill and one hour for lectures., reconnaissance, etc. Much useful instruction is thus assimilated, but it io very ■difficult, especially for the younger men/ to grasp the precise meaning of the instiuction until they see th© operations carried out practically. 1 For th« purposes of these operations the T»ieri troop covered the retreat of an imaginary" force whidb. landing at Taieri Mouth, had BuooeeafWly raided Dunedin. „Th« Dunedin troop, the advance ' guard of k phantom punitive expedition from Dunedin, moved off at 3 p m., and getting into touch with the enemy, discove.red that both bridges had' been blown up 'After a smart brush until about 6 o'clock tho squadron assembled and marcbed to Brighton whor.% camp was pitched. Sun- 1 day moip.in-g- was d&voted to church service e&d further training, and irr the afternoon ! the squad re vi fought a rearguard action j on the *a\ back to town. The men thor , OUfrhly cuj<>><x! the otrting in addition: to • Raining coirsu'crablj in experience. Cap ,

I tains Hiekey, A.A.G., Morris, and Freoj man were umpires. i The City Guards' mothod of making a. I co.Mpaiiy prise comp3-titic.n of the annral ! course of target jx-actke revives the wholo } question of the dissatisfaction which exist; i regarding the carrying out of this practice. . ! upon the results of which the (^overr.«ient i { money prizes and medals a■■-:>a ■■-:> allocated ' ! Some comTianies cairv out tr-s. gjiactif-e j exactly according to the regulations la:d I < l ow, usinj the bix-wn papc-T oo\->t':ie<l " 1 target w-itS the figure of a man upon "t 1 in various positions. hr'ome ofßcaie" have "' | been in rhe habit o: carrying- out the * i p.'su-f Joo on a white tar£--ct m-arked v.ith b , a figure wii:ch cn!y the m^ikors can distinguish. Thi<= ib unfaii- to those officers •who cor duel, the v>r;.ct'ce in accordance , with regulation-. Recojnisir.g this, cno ; ; company at loa=fc refuss'd to <oiniv?te for I' f-..a Govcnmeiil prizes. In this connection . attentior 13 diie^ttd to a recent Disti-iet 1 Orucr in which it is laid down nhat wlw-re i it can possibly be arranged an officer from . ' some other company should sups r vise the ! , shooting. \ . To so© "An Englishman's Home" staged j is to compiehsnd why it has created such a [ ' Avond-wide sensa.ticn. Its moral is so pointedly obvious that ev*>n the most igr.o- , rant and haedkss must give pause and ask . if there is any truth in this aprwling picture of the British Empire's t'efencs preparation':. Tha co'difons are, cf course, pxaggerated by the author ' to emphasis- his lei^on, but the essantial cor.n of truth is there, and some of the cnaracters and incidents could :be matched _in Xew Zealand. The alcrtnj&s, the c-rispness, tiie machine-like pMcision with wh : ch the fcreig-n force was ercd-tcd proved exceptionally attractive and instructive. The extravagant bravery of the Englishman proprietor which won applause from the audierce was merely foolish heroics. The prcnipt execution of the eh lhan who had been found using firearms enlightened not a faw of those present upon a matter of international law. I Ths failure of the propessd military night in connection with the production of '" An : Englishman's Home" will doubtless ba used as a further evider.cs of the fact that Dunedin is a Scotch town. As a ir jitter of fact, Dunedin officers were not attracted , to tha notion of appearing in uniform at ■ th> th'2atr2, and in consequence- of tho small number of officers supporting it the pioj^ct wa.? droppsd by the management before the returns as to tlie number of non-commissioned officers an-Ji men likely to attend were cue. The necessity for being in their seats before 6.45 p. :n. would have prevented a large • number of men from taking advantage of ths- cci:<;ess:ons. I can well imagine that tho«e offtc-E'i-i- and men who did attend con- j gi-atulated tLam^-alv.^ tha"t their uniforms i were at ho»no as they watched and listered ' to the grotesquely pitiful caricature of a Volunteer cffi-"ov in th-e person of Captain Findi. A painful aspect of tlio production . was tho n-ception of it at the hands of a I faiily num?.'oiu, unction of the ardience, who seined to regard the whole thing as n mere or lcs stujjid pantoaiinie devised solely for their amusement.