HOME GUARD

Southland Times, Issue 24592, 14 November 1941, Page 6

HOME GUARD

INVERCARGILL BATTALION NEXT PARADE: Wednesday, November 19, 7 p.m., at Drill Hall. Officers and n.c.o.’s Class: Monday, November 17, 7.30 p.m. at Drill Hall. SUCCESSFUL PARADE Although the attendance was by no means as good as it should have been, last Wednesday’s parade was one of the best yet. Officers and n.c.o.’s are acquiring more knowledge and better words of command, and there is no doubt that Guardsmen are responding. After a series of courses in musketry, semaphore, platoon and company drill, and some field drill, the battalion went on a short route march. No praise can be too high for the men who are turning up week after week and doing their best to make the battalion an efficient fighting force. BURNHAM COURSE Mr W. Grieve, who has been acting as intelligence officer for the battalion, will leave for Burnham this morning to undertake a month’s military course. SIGNALLERS IN ACTION In a practice on Wednesday night , the signal sections of the Bluff and Invercargill units of the Home Guard i established communication with each other by means of Morse lamps. The Bluff section had its station on Bluff Hill and a vantage point in the city was selected as the station for the Invercargill section. In addition there was an intermediate station at Otatara, operated by Invercargill Home Guardsmen. Visibility was fair to good. Messages transmitted concerned mainly procedure and directions for correct focusing of lamps. Further experiments will be made with a view j to confining the lamp beams to a small j compass, so that messages may not be ' read" by an enemy situated at an angle : to the beam. i

It is likely that Home Guard units in the Riverton district will be brought into communication with the Invercargill and Bluff signal units shortly and that a station will be operated from the top of the building at the corner of Dee and Esk streets in which the headquarters office of the Home Guard is situated. The trial on Wednesday night followed on a visit to Bluff on Monday evening of the Group Director (Lieutenant-Colonel W. Bell) and the group signals officer (Mr H. Gray), who made arrangements with the Bluff signallers at a parade of their unit. The matter was taken up enthusiastically by the Guardsmen at the port, and the success of the trial will probably lead to an exchange of visits between the two signal units. PARADES OF COUNTRY UNITS After attending successful parades of the Home Guard at Tuatapere, Clifden and Orepuki, Captain W. J. Leith and Sergeant-Major G. L. Smart, instructors to the Home Guard in the No. 12 area, returned to Invercargill yesterday. The parade at each place was very well attended, there being practically a full I company on parade at Tuatapere and two full platoons at both Clifden and Orepuki. Today Captain Leith and Sergeant-Major Smart will go to Nightcaps and while there will visit the Home Guard units at Wairio, Opio, Ohai and Birchwood. They will return to Invercargill on Monday.