MILITARY NOTES.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1085, 25 March 1911, Page 10

MILITARY NOTES.

[Edited Br Echelon.] MANOEUVRES AND PRIVATE PROPERTY. COOKING IN 'HIE FIELD. Tlio Army Council lias decided, as an experiment for one year, in view of the difficulty experienced by men who fire from the left shoulder in maintaining the necessary rapidity of fire, to exclude from the infantry, cavalry, artillery (except diivers), and R.E. (except drivers) recruits whoso vision is below a ccrtain standard. As this experiment is only applicable to tho arms mentioned above, 10cruits rejected under it continue to bo eligible for other corps nud services.

General Cowans, the newly-appointed Director-General of tho British Territorial Army, thinks that the British people havo now m all probability their last cluince t9 continue voluntary service, lie is optimistic in his views as to the prospects of recruiting. • It was no good, he said to an interviewer, for tlioso who shirked service either to criticise tho'-o who undertook it or to say "it would bo all right 011 -tho lnghi/' os in a pantomime rehearsal. Jvlcn could not bccoinc soldiers without somo training previously, and they must be ablo to march and shoot, lie felt sure the increase in grants would have a great effect in filling tin establishments and in efficiency, and that in a few years the reproach will no longer bo levelled that they have forgotten the fino old signal, "England (Great Britain) expects every man. to do his duty," towards maintaining one of the finest empires ever known, and its position in tho world as a first-class Power.

Tho groat losses from disease suffered by our army in South Africa wero nppalling, and became doubly so when tho Japanese army in Manchuria showed that by proper precautions those losses could have been prevented. Now efforts are being made by a system of training in sanitation scienco to render tho troons less liablo.to infection when in the fiefd, and these efforts should have far-reaching effect. Pho establishment of the Army bchool of Sanitation, and the training of a,, certain proportion of the troops of nil branches of the service as "Sanitary *! 1S evidence of the desire of the authorities to coin bat the evil of insanitary practices among tho'soldiers;- It must bo saw that some commanding, officers :arc rendering invaluable assistance by'insisting upon course? of lectures on the subject every winter, and. .insisting -upon sti ingent sanitary rules out of barracks. iSut theso efforts are not general, and much has yet to bo done to render tho JJntish Army as immune from proventab o disease as tho Japanese. That can only be done by education 011 the lines that an offence against the sanitarv laws is a direct menace to tho lives of comrades, and this must Ik? 1 recognised by every soldier wearing tho King's uniform.

Mr. Haldane, the Brilish War Minister, addressing the 12th Battalion, London Rangers), on - a recent occasion, said Ibat however much tho Territorial Porco had been criticised, there ! was one thin? it had certainly accomplished it. It had brought tho Regular Army and tho Territorial Army into dose relationship. Tho command of the Territorial, units, in .the higher divisions, had fljvcji to somo of the finest; officers British "Army could produce. Tho-value of the organisation of tho Territorial Army lay to a largo extent in this, that it was the same organisation as the Regular Army possessed. Tho two corresponded in almost every detail. They had,-continued Mr. Haldane. a unique institution in the country, and that was the largest overseas yfor.co :that any nation in the world posted* /our tiniCvS as big as said, do not seem to see that essential point, and I will never be the Minister responsible for risking the splendid army .which we possess, (lie 'army which' defends India, which garrisons Africa and Egypt, and which is the bisgcsl overseas army in the world—l say I will not be the Minister to risk that organisation by introducing into this country a new basis which would deprive us of the means of recruiting for our Regular Army on tho footing that we possess to-day."

Mnjor-Genoral Bunbury, in a report just jssqed. on the administrative services during. the recijn.t Irish .manoeuvres, deals at somo length 'with'. cooking in the field. The_ experience gained in modern fights, ho says, has drawn attention to the need of giving men a really sustaining meal ns early as practicable io restore the vitality lost in the exertions <hio to modern methods, even when not so 'fighting, and that it pays well to do it. On tlio other hand,' anything that adds to the first linotransport without real compensation is to be deprecated, but getting a comfortablo meal early is, .in my opinion, to bo looked 011 as a necessity, not as a. luxurynowadays. During the manoeuvres a ti'avelling-kitchen. was used by tho 2nd Yorkshire Regiment, and tho commanding officer, in his report, staled that the battalion benefited considerably in comparison wilh other units who cooked with camp-kettles. A cooking-cart, invented by Captain 1 Pal on, was used by the 2nd' Manchester Regiment, and excellent meat and vegetable stews were made for tho whole battalion while on the march. The kettles, or pails, are provided with felt jackets, which admit of the contents being carried for long distances to outlying pickets without any appreciable loss of heat.

A strongly-worded warning with regard to avoidable damage done by troops during tho last mouoeuvres lias been issued by the War Office to General Officors Commanding-in-Chief. The letter points out that instructions were issued directing that tho greatest care was to bo exercised during the. time the troops were training in the manoeuvre ajea, to avoid heavy claims for damage,-and printed instructions • were subsequently issued as regards tho steps to bo taken for'the protection of property. The Army Council now regret to observe, from (lie report of the Chief Compensation Officer, that, in consequence of (hose instructions not having been adhered to, much damage occurred which might otherwise have been avoided. In some eases standing crops wero ridden over and rendered useless, especially during cavalry training, and. throughout tho whole manoeuvres littlo or 110 notice was taken;of the existence of root crops. Mounted . troops were halted (luring a pause in. the operations in root fields, when downland iwa.s available within a few hundred yards; in somo eases soldiers collected bundles of corn to lio on, while orchards were in no way respected and V'ere usually stripped* - 111 tho absenco of firewood, hurdles, fences, valuable gates and posts, and even garden seats were "torn down and used as firewood; vihile .in consequence 'of the neglect to provide latrines, tho condition of some of the farmyards, enclosures, and fences in tho vicinity of tho camps was very discreditable, causing larger claims to be put in than would otherwise have been the case, and giving riso to discontent among tho inhabitants. Owing to tho neglect to provide communication between fields, hundreds of yards of fencing were ruined by individuals making their own gaps, which would hayo been avoided had proper communication been made on first arrival. Complaints were also received of articles being missed from provision stores in villages, owing to the inability of the owners to cope with the number of customers. It is regretted that tho responsibility for theso eases of avoidable damage could not, on (lie present occasion, bo brought home to any unit or porticular individual, but tho attention of Commanding Officers is to lw called to these matters. The Council took to General Officers Commanding, at future manoeuvres, to mako such arrangements as may ensure a strict observance nf the directions contained in the War Office instructions, and, in eases of failure to observe them, the bringing home of the responsibility to those concerned.