ON FULL SCALE

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21199, 23 August 1940, Page 7

ON FULL SCALE

TROOPS’ EXERCISES

MOVING ON WHEELS ADVANCE AND WITHDRAWAL GENERAL FREYBERG’S ENERGY (From the Official War Corresponddent with the N.Z. Forces in Great Britain) ENGLAND, July 20 Our force, moving in its three mobile columns, is out for its first full-scale field exercise, the entire personnel travelling on wheels—buses, transport lorries, armoured fighting vehicles, motor-cycles and a few cars. The plan of campaign does not matter. It is practice only. At least, it is intended to be practice; but we are on a proper war footing now, and if a need should arise while we are in the field we could be immediately diverted from exercise to action. Points that do matter are the spirit in which the plan will be executed, the keenness or otherwise of the men in the conditions they will be facing for the first time, and the skill with which their officers handle them. This is so because even for officers with fine service records, as many company commanders and above have had, warfare in the pleasant English countryside would be a new experience. The area in which we are is nothing like Northern France, where the New Zealand Division was last time. Still less is it like Gallfyoli, or Palestine, or Egypt, or South Africa.

We are training for a new type of warfare—motorised and mechanised —in a new type of country. This is our third day out, our second bivouacking place. At dawn we shall move again; and after a route march shall embus to travel back to camp. It has rained every day so far; twice lightly, to waken us toward stand-to time, and this forenoon, heavily, when we were moving from one position to another. But all have been summer showers, short, warm, and mostly followed by heat. In any case, war does not wait on weather, and, given an axe or chopper and any living growth whatever, the average young New Zealander can quickly contrive his own shelter. For the most part our bivouacking areas have been among high fern or on the fringes of lovely southern woods, where the free play of some with an axe has seemed a shame. Senior Officers Benefit Three days later we are back in our several camps. No invader came. Nevertheless, if he should come later, we shall be the better prepared to meet him because of what the experiences of the last five days have taught us. Primarily, such an exercise is for the benefit of senior officers, to give them practice in handling their men in the field, and —a modern development—to accustom them to moving everything by road, of necessity to time-table and in a prearranged order. Notwithstanding this intention, the benefis accrue to all ranks. In spite of occasional tiredness and stiffness after all-night digging and the longest march since leaving New Zealand, not a man can be found today who does not wish we were going out again next week. Perhaps we shall. The General is to talk things over with all his officers tomorrow; but it is known already that in most major respects he was well pleased with the work done. Certainly he saw more of it than anybody else. Yesterday afternoon the three columns marched separately to separate embussing points, and the G.O.C. wished to see them all on the march. But also he wished to march. When he was training to swim the Channel, this athlete-soldier used to walk 30 miles every week-end. So it came about that Divi-sional-Headquarters marched In the morning:, with the General at their head; and in the afternoon he saw the other marches.

In the field the troops lived well. The company was the unit of catering, and stores were delivered daily by the Army Service Corps, which drew them as far as 50 milks away. Petrol and water lorries came twice a day. Using petrol cookers in the open, the camp cooks rose above themselves; and from the thricedaily queue with plates, implements and mugs, officers bringing up the rear to be served from the common dixies, there were few complaints against anything but the wasps, which would not let the jam alone. Our exercise embraced embussing and debussing, practice in timed travelling, in halting where not to be seen from the air, and in avoiding aggregations of vehicles. We occupied defensive positions, dug ourselves in, held them against presumed night and dawn attacks, advanced from them, and retired out of them. We reconnoitred new positions, and either covered others occupying them or were ourselves covered. We posted sentries, sent out patrols and maintained constant air watches. When there was noth- | ing else to do we slept, but there was I usually something else to do. '