TROOPS GIVE FINE DISPLAY

Camp News (Northern Command), Volume 1, Issue 21, 20 September 1940, Page 3

TROOPS GIVE FINE DISPLAY

Wellington Regiment On Parade <•. * INSPECTION BY CHIEF OF GENERAL STAFF Giving a splendid display of inarching and arms drill for their inspection ' by the Chief of the General Staff. Major-General Sir John Duigan, C.8.E., at Spriggens’ Park, Wanganui, on Saturday morning, all ranks of the Ist Battalion, Wellington Regiment (City of Wellington's Own) were com- . plimented by Major-General Duigan in a short talk. He said that the army authorities had two jobs in hand, the training of the 2nd N.Z.E.F. and of a home defence force of 44,000. The regiment came in the latter category, and if all the men trained in the future were as good as those he had inspected , that morning he would be quite satis- I fied. Before he -inspected the battalion J and took the salute in the march past. Major-General Duigan had a short look at the camp at the Wanganui I racecourse, and expressed the opinion that it was a good, clean camp. The parade strength was 643 and. drawn up in mass formation on the oval of the park, the battalion made a fine sight in brilliant sunshine. From a spectacular viewpoint the highlight of the inspection was • the present arms with fixed bayonets. The battalion was under Lieutenant- I Colonel A. L. George, officer command 1 ! ing, with Major F. L. G. Mackenzie, ! E.D., second in command. There were 30 officers and 613 other ranks. MajorGeneral Duigan 'made a careful inspection of the battalion and took tin* salute from the ground in front of th? stand centre. The band of th? Wellington-West Coast , Regimen? played for the inspection and march past. There was keen public interest in , the occasion, and the troops were given continuous applause during the march past. Because of his time in Wanganui I being limited, Major-General Duigan 1 was unable to take the salute from ‘ the arranged base in Ha trick Street, j and some hundreds of people, including a moving picture cameraman, di 1 1 not get their expected view of th? battalion on the march. I :