ARTILLERY VOLUNTEERS.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 409, 19 January 1909, Page 6

ARTILLERY VOLUNTEERS.

TWO STBEMJOUS■TRAINING;CAMPS.

.: ■■ ' 'MANNING' THE FORTS. '■>'.'. «. Th ?,; Navals—and,": with-,them, the Electric .Light Corps—have now..,got trough-.the first we ek of-their training .period of. 16 days at Mahanga Bay, while the D •Battery .have turned into their second week's training at the.Hutfc.Park. The<serious business of the, training period—the , test—now begins. .After a. day's, relaxation on'.Sunday, when the Navals held, an "At Home"' to. their friends, the big 6-in.. B.L. guns broke the silence of the early morning yesterday, with four rounds at, 4400 yards, ;and sent their detonations reverberating among' the hills on. the opposite side of. the harbour, .where; the. peaceful inhabitants/ of Eastbourne awoke from their slumbers'in no little disgust. The practice..was an instructional one, t<) "calibrate" or. tost. the .giins. High explosives cause a'slight alteration,', from. wear, and .tear, in, the. big guns e\efy year, and it is usual to test them to' Lse , how- they shoot. Captain Menzies, commanding No.. 1 Company (Wellington Navals),: was in charge of the practice; Lieut.-' Colonel. G. F. C. Campbell,': commanding the garrison artillery , division, will umpire all instructional series: The gun-group commanders wore P.O's. Calnan and Bishop for ihe first, two rounds, and P.O's. Cowan'and Frsaois for;the ; last two. The results were—First, plus 60; .second, plus 100; third" plus 10;.fourth,,minus 20. As the "permissible error", iwas 85 yards over,, rt will be' seen that of, the. "plus" shots, two were hits;_ the "minus .20" shot, was a and in.actual, service.would have been an effective hit. ■ .'...' ... .:.:.. An instructional "calibrate" series of two rounds was also fired from, the Sin. B.L. 'gun last' evening,' Lieutenant Sonimerville being battery commander. .The programme for the gun-practice this, week, is as follows:—' ■■ '■ ■■' ■■■ ■;■ ■"•■ ■". '■■ . .. -.. :■ ■.

Tuesday ; morning—6in.. 8.L. : guns)! 1-2 rounds class-firing, Captain Menzies; evening —6 and 12-pounders, Q.F. guns, 8 rounds instructional. .. : '.■■■-' •;'■■ ''..•■-. ; Wednesday morning—6ip. jB.L. gnus, 12' rounds, second series; Lieut. SommerviUe ■ OT6Tung--4.0 lownds,: IS-poundeis, gunßi class-firing.. ■; ;. ; .: ; : -.. ■.-■,'. I Thursday.morning—Third series, 6in. ■B.L. guns;-6 rounds, Lieut. Meredith; first.series' Sin. B.L.' gun,., cJass-firihg, 5 rounds, Lieut: Sommerville. , ■• ■ ■ ; .. .. ; ■'.'■■■■■- ■' .. ; .;, . .Nightrfiring (Thursday)—6in. iß.L.iguns 6 rounds r 6-pounder, Q.F. guns, two series, 36 rounds; 12-ppunder, Q.F. guns, two series 36 rounds. ;.■■ ... ~.■• ■ ... >••■-. ■ . ■..-,■.._!'■ ■ Friday—Q.F. gun series, 40 rounds.' : ■■ , No, 3_ Company (Electric Light' Corps) has been doing excellent work under Captain A G. Hume and Lieut. A. E. Brown > at Prisoners Bay. There are 35,0f, all ranks under canvas. It is. understood that .this company will man Fort Dorset when its.roll number ls.up.to.the requisite-strength. .-• ■ " ; ;: ; :■::' : ATTHE HTJTT. .' .; : ' ; ' ...

:.. At. the Hutt, the field .artillery—D Bat tery-has made a_brilliant L Btart in its competition for the Efficiency Shield by establishing a fresh record for the. "turn-out," beating .their last year's record—3min 30sec — by : W seconds. The.examinations of' the gun-layers and specialists have now been completed, and, thei nest event of importance is the class-firing at Pigeon Bush, Wairarapa 9 ' for which place the battery will entrain"on Thursday next,, returning to Wellington the bunclay. 7 •' ; •.■■•■'■.-... ■■■ . . ,