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NEW ZEALAND FORCES TRAINING IN ENGLAND GREAT RESULTS ACHIEVED (From official correspondent attached to the New Zealand Forces In Britain). ENGLAND, August 23 The strength of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force in Britain was increased this week by the arrival in camp of about forty recruits attested ir. London, all New Zealanders. Some were volunteers, and others called up under the British military training scheme elected to serve with their fellow countrymen. The newcomers were not treated as a separate recruit squad, but were distributed among the units, where in return for the privilege of joining the New Zealand Force they will be expected to work especially hard in making up leeway in training. The first batch of candidates for first commissions will shortly be selected from privates and noncommissioned officers in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force in Britain. They will begin a four months’ course in the cadet training units, whence those successful will be passed out as second lieutenants and reposted to the service of the New Zealand Force. Unit commanders have been asked tc recommend suitable men, after which the Selection Board will examine the recommendations and choose the candidates.
The number chosen will depend mainly on the number of vacancies in the training establishments. The high quality of the New Zealand non-commissioned officers has been repeatedly remarked upon by competent British observers, who expect our cadets to give a particularly good account of themselves in the training courses in which they will be associated with men of the United Kingdom and other Dominions forces. Officers Posted Several New Zealanders who enlisted in the United Kingdom and subsequently were selected for training as officers recently have been posted to the New Zealand Expeditionary Force as second lieutenants, including the Rhodes scholar, D. M. Davin, and Keith West-Watson, son of Archbishop West Watson. This is the biggest week in the military experience of the Second Echelon Artillery, the full strength of which engaged in firing practice on a famous English range, using not only types of gun with which they were familiar in New Zealand but also new issues. Although the gunners, while waiting for full equipment in the early weeks of their training, drilled manfully as infantry, in order to be ready tor any emergency, they are unconcealedly glad to be back in their own branch of the service. Accordingly this week, with guns in the field bringing to a climax a period of intensive training in the most modern artillery practices, brought the units’ keenness to a new peak. Military Cricket Match A military cricket match, Australia v. New Zealand, will be played on Saturday. Tindill will captain the New Zealanders.
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Bibliographic details
Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21199, 23 August 1940, Page 6
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447MORE RECRUITS Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21199, 23 August 1940, Page 6
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