EVENTS IN N.Z.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2255, 15 September 1914, Page 6

EVENTS IN N.Z.

REINFORCEMENT DRAFTS. QUALIFICATIONS FOR SELECTION. NOTES FROM AWAPDW! TROOPSHIPS READY FOR SEA. The General Staff Officer of the Wellington Military District advises that immediately after the departure of the Expeditionary Force steps will be taken to prepare periodical reinforcement drafts. Numbers are calculated for each unit, or portion of unit, provided from tho district for the Expeditionary Force, exclusive of "first . reinforcements." Each individual unit in the district must provido the officers and men required for the squadron, company, etc., with the force originally found from tho unit. : Actual numbers required will be indicated later.

Officers andmenwill be selected from the volunteers for oversea service taken from the Territorial Force,, rifle clubs, ex-volunteers, and civilians.' All men selected must be enrolled forthwith in the Territorial Force. Officers should be drawn from the unattached lists "A" and "B," as well as from the Territorial Force.. Applications to servo as officers to be forwarded by units to District Headquarters. Officers commanding units will make 'their.remarks and recommendations on each application when forwarding'. Any applications received direct at headquarters' will be referred back)to officers commanding units for report. To be eligible for selection, officers and men must fulfil the' following conditions :— . . (a) Must have- been trained at least as provided for •' ,' ■ below. • " . ■ (b) Bo between the ages of : 20 arid 40. . ■ (c) Bβ abavo sft. 4in. in. ■ ' height! i (d) Be less than 12st. in ■ , -weight. ■'..•..-■•' (e) Bβ passed as medically ■ : fit lor active service. : Preference should be given to unmarried men, and.in the case of mounted men.to : those who bring horses and' suitable saddlery with them to enable training to be carried out at camp. The saddlery may be purchased by the Government or returned to men's homes if not further required. The horses will be purchased by Government. Officers and men selected for the reinforcement drafts will-be- trained at a concentration camp to be formed at Trentham, under the orders of Defence Department Headquarters, Wellington. The. course.of training will last for 36 working days (six weeks)!' A permanent camp staff .-.will bo appointed by ' Defence Department headquarters, Wellington. The duties of the camp staff will.be:-— _ ' ; (a) -To assist in training the officers and men of the reinforcement drafts.

(b) To equip and prepare tho drafts for embarkation., . \. (c) To deal with the organisation, discipline, and routine of the camp. Major C. R. .Macdonald, Imperial General Staff, Auckland, will'be detailed to attend for ten days at the.pomniencement of the course'of instruction df each reinforcement ; draft-in order to instruct the officers. • The following instructions regarding the preparation; of the reinforcement drafts should bo adhered to:— (a) Infantry'and Mounted Rifles— ■ (i) 'The drafts; must include the proper proportions of trained : specialists; e.g., machine ' ' ■ gunners, signallers, etc. (ii) Officers and non-commissioned , officers should be instructed in semaphore. , (b) Artillery.— / ' As far as possible every man '' '■ , should be trained as a driver, :,/■'-, : .,..: whether he-ie intended for a '.-■.-■ . . gulmeir or a driver. (c) Engineers.—; - Signallers will bo trained in usual work, and filling up'of mes-. sages only. Tliere is not sufficent equipment left to train men in cable wagon or telephone work. ■ (d) Ambulances.— Men should bo trained in general ; . . -, duties. Specialist training will be carried out during the ', ' ■■''.'. voyage. Each man proceeding to the Trentham camp-will bring; with, him rifle, cap, working suit, kit-bag, and sea-kit bag, to be provided under arrangements made by District. Headquarters. With this exception the men will be fully equipped by the permanent camp staff. Officers proceeding to the camp should be fully equipped for active service as laid down in the "Field Service Pocket Book, 1913." '•■'.■ ■ Unite will call for names of volunteers and be prepared -to send their quotas to the concentration camp on receipt of orders to do so. Every Territorial unit should maintain a list of volunteers, so , that when drafts have to he provided there will be no delay in calling for names. Pay will be granted as laid down foi the Expeditionary Force, and will commence on the day of arrival in the camp at Trentham. Units will issue railway and eteamei warrants from place of enlistment t<? Trentham, notifying the District Headquarters and the camp commandant by ■telegram of the probable time of, arrival of all drafts.

Horses to replace wastage ■will t>e furnished by a central remount depot camp to be formed under instructions to be issued later. The horses required foi training the mounted men of the concentration camp will be obtained from the remount depot oamp: All arrangements regarding the placing of ammunition on hoard the transports will be made by Defence Dopaitment Headquarters, Wellington. Nothing contained in this letter applies to the "Advance Party" of the Expeditionary Force under Colonel Logan. In order to avoid confusion and duplication, it must be clearly understood that adjutants are responsible for the preparation of their respective drafts, and they should ensure as fai as -possible that drafte are drawn from each of their squadron and company areas. Group officers will assist adjutants in selection, but will only supply volunteers on the direct order of an adjutant or District Headquarters. Volunteers should be warned that apron and company officers, or the nearest Defence Office, and that' applications made through any other channel will not be received. Officers volunteering must do so through their CO., and in case of unattached list "B" through their group officer. ■■ AT AWAPUNI GAMP. FIELD ARTILLERY REORGANISATION. (By Telegraph.—Spooial Correspondent.) Palmorston, N., September 14. Reorganisation of tho field artillery into three batteries has been accompanied by the appointment of tho following officers: — Headquarters Lieut.-Colonel, Licnt.Colonel G. N. Johnston, 11.A.; adjutant, Lieut. J, M. Richmond, R.N.Z.A.; orderly officer. Second Lieutenant W. L. Moore; medical oiiicor, Captain, E,

Whitaker, N.Z.M.C.: veterinary officer, Captain J. H. Primmer, N.Z.V.C.; chaplain, Rov. C. J. Bushking. First battery-major, Major F. Symon, R.N.Z.A.; captain/Captain C. M'Gilp; subalterns, Lieutenant C. N. Newman,: Second Lieutenant J. C. Dunet, Second Lieutenant F. M. Turner, R.N.Z.A. Second battery-major, Major F. B. Sykes, R.A.; captain, Captain G. B. Danioll, R.N.Z.A.; subalterns, Lieutenant V. Rogers, Lieutenant R. C. Wickens. Second Lieutenant A. E. Honvood, R.N.Z.A. Third battery-major, Major I. T. Standish, R.N.Z.A.; captain,- Captain C. V. Looming; subalterns, Lieutenant .It. Richards, Lieutenant R. E. Gardner, Sccond-.Lieuteiiaivt T. Farr, R.N.Z.A. ' Brigade ammunition column-captain, Captain F. G. Hume, R.N.Z.A.; subalterns, Second Lieutenant S. W. Morton, Second Lieutenant N. H. Purdy. First reinforcement (left at base),. Second Lieutenant H. tL M. Wilson, R.F.A. (special reserve). This week's programme of arrangenionts provides for two successive Bights in bivouac (Monday and Tuesday) at Highdon and Awahuri with manoeuvres.. The programme is arranged for a complete week. Sunday at the camp was made bright by the Fnlmerston Band and Queen Alexandra's Own Regimental Band, which motored through from Wanganui, 'and was entertained by tho officers. There are two dogs in the camp as mascots—one presented by Mr. West, of Palmerston, as iformerly reported, and another, a bulldog, by Major Sam-, uel, of Wellington, which goes with the Manawatu Mounted Rifles. Saturday's football match, ; in which the :camp defeated Manawatu by six to three, netted £14 9s. at the gates for the Patriotic Fund. Flower-sellers on Saturday netted £50. ' ]. RECI MENTAL.FUND. £7000 BEING RAISED., (By TolegrapSi.—Plo3S Association.) Palmerston N,,'September 14. The sum of £1300 has been received by tho Wellington, regiments of infantry and mounted men in camp at Awapuni, being from the sum collected in tho Wairarapa towards tho Regimental Fund. The balance of £1750, which is being raised will be forwarded shortjy. The fund will be administered by a board consisting of the commanding officer of-the regiments, seconds in command, tho quartermaster and company commanders, and will be used to provide necessaries for the men at the front, special medical attention, and financial assistance to men invalided or separated from tho • regiment. A total of £7000 is needed, and this has been allocated to the following four districts to raise:— Gisborne and Hawke's Bay, Taranaki, Wanganui,, and West Coast, Wairarapa, and the Bush Districts. : , LETTERS FOR TROOPERS. POSSIBLE DELAY IN TRANSIT. It'is unfortunate that many persons, having misunderstood the military instructions, have addressed letters 'to members of the Expeditionary Force (still in the four centre camps) care of tho Alexandra Barracks, Wellington, Whereas it was only intended that letters for those members of tho Force engaged in oversea service should bo,so addressed. The result has been that a considerable number of letters have accumulated in Wellington, addressed to troopers in the various camps, and as thero is no means of identity other than the name of the person to whom the letter is addressed, the task of sorting the letters is no light one. In view of.the confusion which has arisen, correspondents..are .adyised,that they, must not bo surprised, if they do ; not receive answers ■■immediately/ as if may chance that the letters have not, so far been delivered. In the meantime all those' corresponding with members'of the Expeditionary Force arc advised to address the letters care-of. 'the particular camp at which their friends are located.

THE TROOPSHIPS. ALL READY, FOR DEPARTURE. , All the troopships except the Arawa liayo loft the Wellington and this vessel.is to go out into the stream on Wednesday. Tho Waimana and the Star of India have gone to Auckland, tho Athenic and the.Tahiti to Lyttelton, and the Hawkes Bay and-the Ruapehu to Port Chalmers. In. the stream in Wellington Harbour lie tho flagship (the Maunganui), tho Orari, and the Linie-r----ick. . . : . ■ Speculation is fairly varied as to the dato of the transport fleet's departure, and it seems certain that the force will not sail for at .the very least a few days yet. The work of fitting up the vessels for their especial enterprise has been practically completed, though a busy carpenter is hero and there visible on the Arawa. The horse stalls appear to be about as satisfactory as they well could he. K is nearly impossible to make a large body of horsos comfortable on shipboard, but the' Now Zealand fleet is well fitted for the purpose of taking the mounts all the way to England. The horse stalls aro'closed in on all sides but one. The animals will, therefore, be 'protected from sea and sun'. ■ The Arawa, the only vessel still berthed here, coaled at Lyttelton, and is not taking on any further fuel here.' Yesterday a quantity of ammunition was placed aboard her.