ARMY AND NAVY TO JOIN IN MANOEUVRES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18985, 3 February 1930, Page 9

ARMY AND NAVY TO JOIN IN MANOEUVRES.

Preparation for the combined manoeuvres between the Canterbury Regiment and units of the New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy are actively proceeding, said Colonel R. B. Smythe, Chief Staff Officer of the Southern Command, to-day. A company of the regiment (under Captain Owen Baker) will carry out a scheme at Ripa Island on February 22, with the assistance of the cutter Deveron and the local unit of the Volunteer Naval Reserve.

When the operation at Akaroa takes place on March 3 and 4, the sloops Veronica and Laburnum, and the minesweeper Wakakura will take part. It had been arranged that H.M.S. Dunedin was to play the principal role in the Navy’s share of the manoeuvres, but the disturbances in Samoa have entailed an alteration of the plans. The invading force at Akaroa will consist of portions of three companies of the Canterbury Regiment, who will be taken round by sea. The other company will go to Akaroa by land to represent the defending force. “ The Navy are very keen on these combined operations,” said Colonel Smythe. “We find them extremely helpful and they take the greatest possible interest in the doings of the land forces. The Navy had co-operated several times with the land forces, chiefly in the North Island. They seemed thoroughly to enjoy the change from their ordinary routine, and at the same time assisting in the more useful training of the territorials.