THE TERRITORIALS.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXIX, Issue 138, 3 August 1911, Page 3

THE TERRITORIALS.

METHODS OF TRAINING. I)IRECTOR OF STAFF DUTIES EXPLAINS. The Methods. (Continued.) As regains mu mournas of tunnim tins un. na\e to oc cal ei ml V eoi ..i.. eiou. nt. uas uueii t,aiu, me ti.uuiiig ill Usu OO pi Ogivsbivv. ,-L IMOl’Ungi. gioUiidlng in 'On*.. exciiii iiCs lI to in an aotjinte iieecssuy. 'lie must no Uiiiuu Camiuiiy step ok' step Ulan me eomii.eneeuiciiu. in tia.im. leave Homing ueiuna nun i:{, !u iile x, u( . ; , liub tiioi know, anil ev-' i N uil;i; tfi.it no lias to tie snuutU lie carol tin . explained wntae necessary.' iiuai.ii, nature is pi one to reason as t:> in. necessity m tilings, anti a Jew winu., in explanation as to reasons ill .lien, eleai up a difficulty tnat ~gnt omerwise piove a stuinolmg muck. a man is always amenable to reason,, and, wiicrc tins is legitimate, no ougni to oo considered. a recruit is a recruit in tuill until lie nas passed a test under tne eyes oi ins commanding onieer or adjutant—pieieraoiv, uncle possioie, tne lormer. ine comimmtiing officer must oe sacisuecl timi me reci mx is enicient in stpmd anu company drill before lie allows inn. to join tne trained men oi ins compauy, otnerwiso no is only a wean spot in tnat organisation. Not only must Ho be eilic-ient at drill, lint in must pass a test in semapnoru worn and l.ns standard test in tne rpmnt'S course of musketry. KeTnVsc'a'lso iia.vc a tiiorougn Knowledge 1 of tne 1 parts ’ol ids nne anti tne • metiiocii -on ; taking proper eaie of it. Until lie. lias mastered ail tins lie cannot be. eonsi i wcti a trained lecruit. These refnarks apply equally to iccruits in the other oranenes of tne service. The next respunsioility of the company commander is the training ol nis company in drill, work m the neld, and musketry. The Imperial training manuals will guide him in the two first and the musketry Regulations in the last. A special course, of musketry on the range for recruits ana trained soldiers in the Now Zealand Military f orces is being considered, and will bo published later. But in all his company training the commander must keep in view the fact that it is to bo progressive. His object is to lit in’s company to take its place in the battalion under his commanding'officer, ready to act'as an integral part of the unit on the drillground or in the held. The ideal that a commanding officer should have before him is a battalion that is uniformly steady in the ranks,- that drills smoothly with a minimum of orders, and can bo trusted to work by itsell in the field, under the. company commanders, after the necessary instructions nave been given to them and in turn intelligently imparted to all ranks in their companies. But fins ideal can never bo attained without much training and a high state qf discipline, and, above all, the latter. There may he officers and N.C.O.’s who require 'further instruction before they are thoroughly fitted 1 to take up the duties of training. \, To meet their requirements, it jbq recossary for all adjutants to institute continuous Hisses of instruction 1 civ ring the evening!,! and, with the assistance of their sergeants-major-instnictors, to make every effort to afford help to such officers and N.C ll (),.’s i fi,s,,jj; l ay call for it. ft'is only by ’such' practical’ moans, combined with a study of the manuals,- •■that officers and N C.O.’s can fit themselves to become- =cflic.cut trainers. £ho first duty of. officers commanding units is to see that their officers and' X.C.O.’s arc .Tllchnt and up to the mal ic, otherwise they cannot expect to train their units to the required pitch of efficiency. It is very strongly recommended to all officers and N.C.O.’s not to wait to !-e ndered to attend classes of instruction to render themselves efficient, 1 hut to ft to their own training seriously an ham! without delay, and bo ready to take up the duties of training their me a. Discipline. The question of discipline is ; supposed to be a serious and a difficult one—why, it- cannot bo conceived. It is an obvious fact that no organisation, whether civil or miltitary, and especially tlie latter, can exist in an efficient state without discipline. To descend to men’s recreations: no team at any game can hope for success in a match unless it is willing to submit itself to that necessary discipline enforced by those responsible for me management of that team in its efforts foi success. So, as regards a body of men organised as a force intended to take part; if necessary,- in the defence of their country, they must be willing to submit themselves to the discipline enforced by those under whose command they find themselves. But since the defence of-one’s country is of the highest importance, and the attainment of success ini this is paramount, so the necessity for discipline in the forces of one’s country by far transcends that in a business concern or a mere matter of games, it is believed that submission to disi inline will lie an easy matter when its necessity is recognised) ah’ it must be, but success in its enforcement; w ill depend on the manner dn w hich at is done. . ,1 ;• ! eh That an army without discipline is no hotter than an armed rabble is a" truth that is as old as history. No undisciplined people or troops have over yet carried a war to a successful issue,' though they may have prolonged it. In the American War of Secession, the Northern army lost more men through desertion than the whole :,f their losses in lighting or through disease during tnat war. This was due to want of discipline. In the end they did acquire discipline, which, coupled with their superiority and resources, brought their operations to a successful termination-, lint had they from the commencement that spirit of discipline so necessary to an army ii it is to be efficient tbe ; war wonjil not nave been prolonged through the >ears it was waged, a'iiu the nitihiate xpendituio of blood • and treasure would have been small in proportion. On tne other hand, history has inc umoi able instances of the triumph f discipline. No doubt it was This Hiality in his troops that enabled. Alexander the (Treat to traverse untold difficulties and penetrate into India. The discipline of Caesar’s lemons helped him to conquer half Km,’i K . mid establish himself in Britain. , j K . Ovid discipline of Frederick the Treat insured victory for his arms. Napoleon e viild not have overrun Enr,pe except for the superior discipline , his soldiers, who in their turn had .) .vive was to the British troops, in,,,1 jor iii nimibeis but steadiest in 1,..ji discipline. In all the history ol -in wars in Judin it will be found that >ritis!» soldiers were a handful coin- , i] . d to their enemy, but their disipline always carried them through. ■ln soldiers in the world could have , it list nod the punishment. the 57th ?eginient • vcer.iveil at Alhnorn, bin. i-tjov held their ground and gained)the icic-name-of the “Die-hards.” They voro disciplined, and knew that their hitv was to stand ijnn. or H>e day rigid he last for the British. During Sir John .Moore’s retreat to Corunna,

his best-disciplined troops was a brigade of the Guards. This body, because of their superior discipline, suffered a smaller proportion of losses to the remainder of the rorcc. To descend to tne vernacular, discipline consists In “playing the game.” Wo submit to discipline because we know it is for the good of :hc army; wo recognise the fact that the army cannot carry on without it. A soldier may not know', and does not jiiestion, why he does a certain tiling tint ho is ordered to do. M hat he loos know is that it is a part of the scheme of things—that it is necessary i'.-i- the good of the whole—and obeys •-.in orders because ho must “play the ranie.” A man may be as brave as a Hon and as reckless as a tool, but unless in action - ho “plays the game” ami-docs as he is told ho is useless as i soldier. He may risk his life in mine art which appears on the face of it. to bo one of extreme gallantry, md be may even lose his life over it; but unless lie lias done all this in tne mm.rso of “playing the game.” acting under orders with bis comrades, lie is i man without discipline and not fit to be in the ranks; ho is a weak spot in bis unit and of no use to bis commander. As lias boon said before, and it cannot bo too strongly impressed on all. discipline means self-sacrifice, md self-sacrifice is the essence of patriotism. Surely under these cireuin-,-tancos discipline is worth submitting to. (To bo concluded.)