HIGH SCHOOL CADETS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 9, Issue 56, 29 March 1946, Page 7

HIGH SCHOOL CADETS

BARRACKS WEEK INTENSIVE MILITARY TRAINING Last week the annual barracks week for the boys in the secondary department of the Whakatane District High School was held, the usual school periods being given over to elementary military training. Because of the large proportion of new boys the emphasis this year was placed upon basic training in footdrill, rifle exercises and musketry. The Company Commander, Capt. I. B. Hubbard, was in charge, assisted by the Company 2 I.C. Capt.

A. Breward, but a large part of the instruction was carried out by the

senior boys, six of whom recently spent a week at the Northern Military District School of Instruction at Narrow Neck.

Capt. M. Fowler and Staff-Sgt. L. Taylor from Area Headquarters concentrated -their efforts on the train-

ing of N.C.O.’s, and this ' group showed particular promise. The new boys, too, made good progress, and at the end of the week had attained some of the smartness and precision of movement at which their instructors were aiming. The course was not all hard work, at least four periods for all boys being devoted to visual instruction with films, while most of the seniors had at

last one period of musketry on the school rifle range. On Wednesday afternoon the Area Commander, Lt.-Col. J. Oliphant, visited the school to inspect the company and to see the training in progress. He took the salute in a march past, and in addressing the company subsequently complimented the boys on what most of them had achieved in two and a half days training. He expressed particular pleasure at the performance of the pipe band, which reminded him of the regimental band during his own period of active service. Advantage was taken of his visit to present to Company Sgt.-Major W. R. Law with the Campbell Medal won in last year’s musketry competition for the Imperial Challenge Shield. On that occasion Sgt. Law scored 91 points out of a possible 100, and thus won the silver medal for the second highest score in Area 2.