19th REINFORCEMENTS

Southland Times, Issue 17789, 19 July 1916, Page 5

19 th REINFORCEMENTS

THE QUOTA EXCEEDED.

(Per United Press Assoclation.)

WELLINGTON, July 18. The Prime Minister has issued the following statement:— The Nineteenth Reinforcements, which mobilise far training next week are now complete. As a matter of fact, there has been an excess of registrations in some groups, with .the result that the draft for the whole dominion will go into camp over strength. The official figures of the registrations for the infantry and all other arms of the service being full as at date of Friday, the 4th inst., are as follows: —

Group No. I—Auckland City: Complete. Group No. 2—Paeroa: Complete. Group No. Whangarei: Shortage, S. Group No. 4—Hamilton: Complete. Total shortage for Auckland military district, 8.

Group No. 5 Wellington City; Surplus, 26. Group No. 6 —Palmerston North: Surplus, 34. • Group No. 7—Napier: Shortage, 20. Group No. 7a —Masterton: Surplus, 32. Group No. B—Hawera: Surplus, 15. Total surplus for Wellington military district, 09. Group No. 9 — Christchurch City: Surplus, 7. Group No. 10—Timaru: Surplus, 4. Group No. 11—Kaipoi: Shortage, 2. Group No. 11a —Greymouth: Shortage, 21. Group No 12—Nelson: Surplus, 23. Total surplus for Canterbury military district, 11. Group No. 13—Dunedin City: Shortage, 17. Group No. 14 —Invercargill: Shortage, 1. Group No. 15 —Oamaru: Shortage, 1. Group No. 16 —Milton: Complete. Total shortage for Otago military district, 19. ** The total dominion surplus for the Nineteenth Reinforcements is 53. Registrations for the Twentieth Reinforcements are now well in hand in most of the groups. The Board wishes to impress on, recruiting committees the urgent necessity of keeping up the flow of recruits, as it will be some time yet before the preparations for bringing the Military Service Act into operation will be completed. This work is now in progress hut in the meantime and until the compulsory provisions of the Act can be enforced it is essential there should be no slackening off in enlistments. We have now readied the stage in the great struggle when it is more than ever necessary to maintain our force in the field at full strength.