H.—l9

4

During many anxious times throughout the war officers and other ranks of the R.N.Z.A. and Territorial Garrison Artillery have been called upon to perform trying and arduous duties, often monotonous and always responsible. Deprived of most of its best officers, non-commissioned officers, and men, as well as short of guns, equipment, and other essentials, those retained in New Zealand for garrison duties have performed excellent service and loyally carried out their duties. Territorial Field Artillery. Field Artillery Cadres. The original Artillery cadres have been maintained by enlisting temporary ranks from returned soldiers and men unfit for the Expeditionary Force. These were put through courses of instruction at Wellington, and performed very satisfactory duties with the various cadres. By these means the majority of the R.N.Z.A. Field Section were enabled to join the Expeditionary Force. The cadres are still much below strength, but their efficiency is as high as can be expected in the circumstances. Territorial Field Artillery. Throughout the war the Artillery units have been severely handicapped, but have managed to sustain a satisfactory degree of training. Considering that the response to the calls of the Expeditionary Force was so good, that the personnel was ultimately almost entirely composed of recruits, and taking into consideration the expert nature of Artillery training, the standard of efficiency of Artillery units has been very good. The outstanding feature of Field Artillery units in New Zealand has been the fine spirit of esprit de corps existing in most batteries. This spirit was reflected noticeably in the Reinforcement drafts to the Artillery units of the Expeditionary Force. A sufficiency of guns, saddlery, and other essential equipment was often unobtainable for Field Artillery camps, but the best was done under the circumstances, and very valuable training was given by the Artillery units throughout the war. Engineers. Field, Companies. Throughout the war Field Engineer units have, carried out very satisfactory training, although deprived of a large percentage of their officers and instructors, and exceptionally ill-provided with equipment. This shortage was owing to the requirements of the Expeditionary Force, and the Field Companies did their best under most difficult circumstances, and reached a creditable standard of efficiency. Signal Units. The Signal units have also been considerably handicapped by lack of equipment and shortage of instructors. Notwithstanding this drawback, the Signal units have retained in .most cases a satisfactory standard of efficiency, considering the adverse conditions under which they have worked during the past four years. Railway Battalions. The training of the Railway Battalions was carried out continuously during the war, with the exception of a period at the time of the influenza epidemic. The shortage of officers, non-commissioned officers, and instructors, and lack of equipment and technical material, have all contributed towards making it difficult to carry out progressive instruction. Notwithstanding these serious difficulties, the standard of efficiency has been satisfactory, taking into consideration the abnormal conditions. Post and Telegraph Corps. This corps has throughout the war provided an excellent training-ground for signallers joining the Expeditionary Force. A healthy spirit has pervaded all ranks of the Post and Telegraph Corps throughout the war, and. considering the lack of training equipment and shortage of instructors, the results obtained by the majority of its units have been highly satisfactory. With proper equipment there is little doubt but that this corps would rapidly become highly efficient in communication and other work, and be a most valuable arm for defensive purposes. Musketry throughout the corps has been fostered by competitions for trophies presented by the local controlling officers of the Post and Telegraph Department. Infantry. That most valuable arm of modern war, the Infantry, has suffered very severely in the Territorial Force. Throughout the war the Infantry units have uninterruptedly supplied the Expeditionary Force with large numbers of officers, non-commissioned officers, and men ; in fact, by 1918 the majority of Infantry units possessed nothing but men under Expeditionary Force age. In some units the supply of officers was very much below strength, while non-commissioned officers, instructors, and equipment were throughout the war far below requirements. Notwithstanding this, the spirit of all ranks and the arrangements made by the Training Staff to meet abnormal conditions resulted in a satisfactory degree of efficiency in the majority of units, while the standard of discipline was considerably higher than could reasonably have been expected.