DEFENCE NOTES.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 152, 21 March 1908, Page 12

DEFENCE NOTES.

r Echelon.)

Secretaries of Volunteer Corps and Rifle Cliibs aro invited to contribute items of interest for insertion in this column. _ • ; COStING EVENTS. Napier Military Tournament, March 25. Tlio ranges and targets for to-day's shooting at Trentham are as under Collins Range, 200 and 500 yards. Targets —Highland llifles, 17 and 18; Zealandia Rifles, 19 and 20; Kelburno Rifles, 21; City Rifles,- 22 and 23; Engineers, 24 and 2-5. Spare targets—ls and 16. , Sommerville Range; 200,. 500, and OCO yards. Rifle Club, 2, 3, and 4. Spare targets—s and 6.. The Volunteer "Special" will run as usual. ■ .

BULL'S-EYE SHOOTING.

WAR OFFICE CIRCULAR CRITICISED. THE OTHER SIDE OF THE QUESTION. A good deal has' 1 recently been said .and written about the questionable value, of bull's-eye shooting as, a-means of training soldiers for the conditions of active service; the full text of the British Army Council's views upon the question has , already, been published in this column, and it is but fair to allow the other sido to reply. .v ; , ■ Advocates of bull's-cyd shooting will no doubt be , interested': to - hear,-. what, the National Rifle Association of Grc-a,t Britain has to . say upon this matter. The Bisley Riflo Meeting is controlled by. tlio National Rifle Association, as also, in a greater or-less degree, aro the smaller district associations. Tho rules devised by tlio National Association for.tho conduct of the Bisley meeting aro accepted as. a standard of reference by almost overy rifle association throughout tlio Empire. The attitude, of; this Assdciatib'ii towards .the War' OIBe Circular re bull's-eye Shooting may therefore be accepted as a representative expression- of tho case for- the defence. , _ - r ~ . ■ ..The winter general'meeting of thd National Rifle Association was /.held at tho Rbyal United Service. Institution, 'Whitehall; -Ltfni doii recently;: Major-General Lord'Cheylesmorti presided. The Bisley, Meeting. The Bisley meeting,. his Lordship ,ntinounced, would this year be held, from Moriday, July 13, tb Saturday; July 25; tho dates having been, approved.; by the War, Office. Notification had already been received of >the intention of teanis^beihg-sent fr.oin tho ,Fiji Islands, tho Malay States- and tlie 'West Indies. Therd would bo certain alterations in targets' this year. Secondhand third class targets would bo circular instead, of square, the dimensions remaining as last year.- ,

Tho New Territorial Force. ; : Two matters had arisen, during the'last few months which, affected in an unexampled" degree tho constitution and methods of the National Rifle .-Association;''."' \''/ Tho first referred to the transformation of the Volunteers. and the Yeomanry into a Territorial Army by the "scheme about to come into force on March , 31 next, which, technically abolished 1 the': Force, :,'to uphold which 'was one of the, Association's objects. - The National Rifle Association had, however, in the past, for tho purposes, of its compotitioiis j extended the' .term Volunteer to .include in these islands the Yeomanry, and since theso wire' tho twb Forces which would, ,with ; so'ine comparatively, small ,additions, compose tlib hew Territorial Army, the Couiicil proposed •to continue the same relations with the. now'Force which they had always' held with the old, and, they would hope to bo ,of real service.: to the.,. County .Territorial Forces Associations, and' to secure their hearty co-operation. It was hoped that the County Rifle Associations and: affiliated clubs would §airi increased-strength- from a close connection: ithem.,[ The War Office: Circular. n,'-, The second .' 1 point • involyed the ; consideration 'o'f a'' question,; far,-rfe^chiiig.'in-.its eifccfi, which bad' been raised by British* Army, Council. y'vj. A!Some time ago said; the' Chairman, there appeared in, the Press copies ,of War Office letters,, dated November J4, 1905, ,aud October .14, 1907, layiiig* down the considerations which it was desired, shouldi'guido officers in preparing prbgraminbs for district rifle meet-, ings," an-d stating a list of principles in-, tended to govern tho ..conditions, of all- meetings 'towards which assistance,was given, from public.funds', the principles, thus stated being such ai,-if logically aiid'imhicdiately insisted upon,..'would-.at' once have .extinguished all Volunteer, rifle meetings. ... Much •; anxiety, was ,feli among the-Rifle Asspciatibns,, and great relief was ' given .by ah official explanation that the; memorandum was "not intended , to immediately apply:'tb'either the-National , ■ Rifle: Association or County Rifle' Association, and that the Army prize must first' be, dealt with on these principles." "UMSj there - was much; injthb -memorandum which was extremely practical,- there were difficulties in the application of its principles in carrying oiit Competitions,'' 1 )tad- theso : tfero, ; much greater m tho ease' of' such/ a fbrco jis 1 the Volunteers than, in dealing with tho regular soldier's. Apart, from other, points, tho attempt tointroduce' unknown -distances or somi-visibib targets, raised : difficulties in maintaining real equality' as between . tho different- individuals or squads. / • It must not bo thought that tho' principle, underlying the memorandum was .accepted, hy the Council. They 'could not- agree' that tliero was no value in bull's-eye' sli.bbtirig at fixed' targets;. (Cheers). ■ y,'

The United Service Match. / '■<■■■ The letter accompanying the memorandum took bxcbpfcibn to the fuse of. such a term as' "United Sorvices Match" : to describo. tho match which for noarly thirty years had been held at Wimbledon and Bisloy betweeii representatives of tho various arms, and:; services of His Majesty's forces, it was obvious that if there was to be any such match, it could only bo where, tho' ,teams could meet under conditions familiar to all of them. It was regrettable l! if ; this , match was to be tabooed by the Regular Army Just when the Territorial Army was called into being, and they hoped earnestly _that this match would continue to bo recognised. (Cheers). Relations with the War OlTicc. ■ ■ With regard' to ' the'' relationship of .the National Rifle Association and t-ho_ 'War Oifico, continued Lord Clieylesmoro, it had been, and always woiild' be, the primary wish of tho National - Riflo Association to .asSist the. War. Office by bvcry ; mean's in their power. • They had, no doubt been liberally holped by tho War, Office .at their annual meeting by tlio grant of ammunition awHhp loan bf coiriii)' ;equipment,/ and • especially by •their allowing officers and men to attend as rarigb officers' and .'markers.'"- But lio did, iiot; think it had;been what the National Rifle Association had done for tho Volunteer forcb', during it§ nearly fifty years' existence, 1 as ho was- confidently of opinion that hundreds of men had boon encouraged to rorhaiii on in .the'force, and hundreds wero oqually induced to join, through tlio interest created by tho annual Bisley mooting. (Hoar, hear.) Ho believed tliat if such oonfidonco as it dosorvod had been giveii to the* National Riflo Association, and reliance placed on the opinions of -. iti ' expert nienibers, whose knbwledgo of rifles and all that appertained to rifle-shooting, was second to none, great benefit would have accrued to tlio War Office and the nation at large in the past, aa it would in. tlib future, wero. such confidence to bo ,irivoked. (Cheers). A Compliment to Australia. . Major / Richardson threw out sonife suggestions iis a result of his. experience with . tho team, which visited Canada, tho States, aiid Australia. iii the autumn. Ho paid a high tribute -jto' tho' Australians, who' had raiolied a higher standard than wo, mainly because they shot under more difficult conditions. ... Tho rccont miniature- Bisley was reported to have been • a greater success . than last year. The Chairman intimated that a 220 club had been started to pneourago miniatiirb shobtiiig.' Their members had'done him' the honour of inviting him to.tlio presidency, and Colonel Crosse had been elected a life member. Tho, National Rillb Association wpuld.be happy to work with thb new organisation..