Trentham Camp

Camp News (Northern Command), Volume 1, Issue 25, 18 October 1940, Page 8

Trentham Camp

Several Establishments J Continuous Growth .' , TRAINING FOR WAR (Courtesy of “Evening’'Post”) Trentham Camp, main training establishment in the Central Military District, continues to grow as more buildings and parade grounds are constructed to meet the ever increasing needs and population of this important military township. Trentham is thought of by most people simply as the place where men for overseas service spend the first three or four months of their Army life. Troops destined for overseas do constitute the greater part of the camp population, but their living and training quarters are confined to the Mobilisation Camp which is .but one of several separate military establishments contained in the whole camp.

Trentham Camp also contains the Army School of Instruction where of-ficers-to-be are trained in military science and the art of leadership and where certain Expeditionary Force specialists go to be taught their particular part in the war game. Another separate establishment is the Central District School of Instruction (Trentham Wing) which provides intensive course of instruction for Expeditionary Force troops selected as likely types for ultimate appointment as n.c.o.’s. Still another section of the camp is occupied by the Ordnance Corps whose presence there is chiefly indicated by a huge store from which all military supplies for the forces are distributed. The latest additional is a tented Territorial camp, which for three months will be the home of officers and men of the Northern and Central District Signal Companies who have lately commenced their continuous training undei' the home defence scheme.

SELF-CONTAINED UNITS

Each of the establishments named operates as a separate and self-con-tained unit with its own commandant, staff, training equipment, and living and dining quarters. For general administrative purposes all establishments come under the authority of the Trentham Camp Commandant (Lieu-tenant-Colonel H. D. McHugh, N.Z. S.C.), but apart from that and the fact that various denominational huts, the wet and dry canteens, and the Post Office in the Mobilisation Camp area and the camp hospital are available to all sections, each establishmen carries on a completely independent existence and programme of work. The Mobilisation Camp, the Central District School, and the Territorial camp are the control of Central District Headquarters, Wellington, but the Ordnance Corps and the Army School are directed from Army Headquarters.

In the lay-out of the camp the various establishments, with the exception of the Central District School, which is part of the Mobilisatibn Camp, have fairly well defined boundaries. The camp as a whole has roughly the shape ( of a huge letter “L,” the vertical portion lying east and west; and the somewhat longer

horizontal arm lying north and south. This longer arm is taken up by the Mobilisation Camp buildings and tents and includes, at its southern end (almost at Heretaunga), a very large motor park for Army lorries, cars, and trucks. The other arm of the “L” is composed (working from its eastern tip to its junction with the Mobilisation Camp) of the Ordnance store, the Territorial signal companies’ camp,- and the Army School of Instruction. ■ Camp Headquarters, containing the offices of the Camp Commandant and the Mobilisation Camp adjutant and quartermaster, occupy a building located where the two arms of the “L” meet. 4th REINFORCEMENTS TROOPS With the arrival of the 4th Reinforcements recruits in the Mobilisation Camp a few days ago after the lull caused by the recent measles epidemic, all sections of the camp are once more, in full swing. When a “Post” representative visited Trentham recently all parts of this important focal point of the Dominion’s war effort could be seen in full operation. . As is usual with raw recruits the 4th Reinforcements are being given a gradual introduction to the full training routine. Companies in greatcoats and carrying ground sheets for protection against passing showers were taken on short route marches over roads adjacent to the camp, while others visited the Army School to watch officer-cadets gaining practical experience of trench warfare. The new soldiers have already settled down well in camp and are reported to be throwing themselves into training with unusual enthusiasm. They are 1 men of good stamp and have started off with an excellent record ' of freedom from sickness. In the Army School the sth Officer Cadet Training Unit, some 260 strong is about half-way through the intensive course of drill, small arms and machine-gun instruction, fieldcraft, lectures, and so on provided for all aspirants to commissioned rank. 60 of the cadets made their first acquaintance with trench digging and the erection of barbed wire entanglements. In full battle dress, complete with steel - helmets and wearing balaclava caps as a protection against the cold southerly, men from the Officers’ Platoon were busy with barbed wire, while, a short distance away, cadets of the Northern Platoon (Northern Military District men) were stripped to their singlets as they swung picks and shovels to construct their first trenches. Over each working party roved the searching eye of an instructor. ’ TEDIOUS BUT NECESSARY It is evident that when these men receive their commissions they will possess much more than a theoretical knowledge of the work the men later to be commanded by them will have to do. Back on the asphalt parade ground alongside Army School headquarters more officer cadets were busy on squad drill, a tedious but necessary part of learning to be an officer.

In the Territorial Camp the elementary stages of the training syllabus were in full swing. Most of the personnel have had civilian experience of telegraphy and they were out round the camp practising with signalling lamps, field telephones, flags, and

other types of equipment. These Territorials have commenced their training with commendable keenness and are obviously on the best of terms with the Expeditionary Force men in the Mobilization Camp. The layman visiting Trentham . can hardly fail to, realise that in this compact, clean, and well-laid-out military township several thousand officers and men are willingly working hard to acquire the knowledge and military skill that will enable them to fulfil their vital role in the present conflict.