HOME GUARD

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLIX, Issue 21958, 9 May 1941, Page 6

HOME GUARD

Tactical Manoeuvres Battles of Belfield Hill Special courses for Home Guard officers and n.c.o.’s have been arranged at Burnham Camp. Platoon Commander W. E. Davies and Sergeant-Major A. S. Jones from the Timaru Battalion will attend the first course from May 11 to May 25. Z Company: This company is composed of older men, and of those who, by any disability are unable to undertake the more strenuous training of combatant companies. Under Platoon Commander Thomson, at the Fire Brigade rooms, these men are making excellent progress in ambulance work. They have now reached a stage where a division into a tent squad and a stretcher squad is advisable, and these squads will, in future, meet on different nights (Mondays and Thursdays). This Ambulance Company easily takes first place in the group for best average attendance at parades. Musketry Instruction: Routine orders state that Company Commanders must ensure that all men sent for rifle range practice have had the necessary musketry instruction. Armlets are to be worn at these range practices, and rifles will be issued at tne range. If the ground is damp, Guardsmen should take ground sheets of some kind. Special Instruction Class: On Monday night the special instruction class held its usual weekly meeting, this time at the Little Playhouse. There was a full attendance of officers and n.c.o.’s who, in comfortable seats, listened to an excellent lecture by Major G. R. Lee and continued the discussion of the subject matter long after the usual time of closing. With map and blackboard, Major Lee traced the movements of a defensive force, armed with rifles and a mortar, on a dark night, against an enemy which had landed in surf boats on the Smithfield sector The rapid fire of questions and the proffered solutions of incidental problems showed how intensely interested all were in the lecture. Tactical Exercises: The second battle of Belfield Hill was fought last Sunday morning, with C Company acting as the invading force and B Company as the defence. On Monday evening at the special instruction class, the tactics of the officers and the control of the n.c.o.’s, came under review when the umpires offered criticism of the work of both forces. Afterwards Group Commander E. D. Mcßae complimented all four companies on the interest displayed in these movements. He was persuaded that not the least benefit was the detailed knowledge obtained bv the Guardsmen of the terrain which they might be called upon to defend. Major Lee offered an alternative solution, which threw further light on the problem. Both battles of Belfield Hill have given subjects for many discussions and arguments, and have been fought over again and again on scraps of paper, in tearooms and on street corners. Crossword puzzles no longer offer any allurement.

Escaped Firing Squad In the course of Sunday’s battle, the commander of the attacking force noticed three youths climbing a fence. He thought they might be members of Y (Youths) Platoon and sent an officer to investigate. The youths admitted that they were members of the platoon, and when asked why they were not on parade, stated that they had been late in arriving. They were immediately posted to the attacking force, but subsequently the commander of the defending force discovered that three of his men were missing. Rather than be captured, the youths put up a novel excuse, and assisted in attacking the points they really should have been defending.

Impressment of Rifles Since Saturday, when the impressment of .303 rifles came into force, nearly 40 have been handed in to the police, and these should prove of value to the Home Guard. Guardsmen who have rifles of their own should understand that they must be handed in, and when particulars have been taken, they will be re-issued to them.