THE CALL

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2345, 30 December 1914, Page 6

THE CALL

WHAT NEW ZEALAND - MUST DO '• ... OUR PART DEFINED THE MEN & HORSES REQUIRED : • Yesterday Defcnoe Headquarters made • tho following ' official stateiiieni .to the /:\/ i JPjwsy'M!;.'te , 'Zealand during the war :— \i • The present 'requirement' of the Impenal Government-, is that tho New "i;:r.:?iealarid' Expeditibnai7 : Forceshall ha \ maintained constantly at. full strength • in the, fields This requires a draft of . 15 per>'cent; : ;pßr,: : mbnth : of' the infantry of the iForce, and a draft of 10 Jnjrrjper cent. per. inonth of ■ mounted -rifles, and! drafts of ; other arms in lesser pro- ■■; .; 'portion as. laid down in the Field Ser- ■ vico Regulations; This means a-draft 'it jintervalsV'ofevery . two months of iboTii 1809 officers and men throughout the continuance of tho war. - It should -ap particularly, noted that New Zealand li up a steady; flow, .-of inen .on i /.-'.this'scale, no matter how long-the war .-T . sees oh, whether, it' lasts for .months or for years. After, the departure of the Third Reinforcements all drafts will re- ,. > ceive four months'-: training before, diq•v . patch from NewlZealand... Tho remaJn- ; of thei nien'is training before their being sent- to tho front will bo com- '/ pleted Tinder arrangements made by tho ■ War Office. -. There 'are' • now' sufficient men /: in Irentham camp for- the mounted ■ rifles. • v -of tho Third -and Fourth , Reinforce-, -!• fihents. There 'are, also, sufficient men for the infantry: of the Third Reinjf V- forceirients,'-but' some 600 more infantry - •r are required -to'complete the. numbers of I. the Fourth Roinforcemeiits. ~ : Men from' Samoa and Fiji.

.-"..•'.•.■/■■■.'Five .hundred.men will be brought i./ ■ back''from" Samoa to be equipped and to f undergo training, so that they may ac- •.•: ■ company .the . Fourth' Reinforcements. ;-.■ vThe 'remainder /of>;the :Samoan ! garrison ; ' volunteering for.; service at the front / will /Fifth '•• .Reinfo'rceof 100 men will accompany : the Fourth '.-Reinforce-' inente. ••• ■■.'.■.■',■■. ; The Artillery. Reinforcements for the • first year of 'tho- war (reckoned from the. date of the sailing of the Expedi/■:■tionary:. Forco) will be completed with //■the Fourth : Reinforcements./ so that officers and men may bo specially train-; cd before beine sent to the front. ... • : Instructions have-now been issued by the Defence Department to district offi- ■ cers to. recruit-the. 600. infantry re- ;■. i (juircd to complete the Fourth Rein:j rorcements. ■■'■ They will be sent into Trentham without delay. Tho Fifth R-e- ---«' inforcoments will be,called for about the ■middle of February/, the /Sixth.-'ia April,; . and 'subsequent' reinforcements: fevery > two-months up to the. end, of the'war. , : In addition to demand for '■ recruits at intervals of two months, a few, recriiits will bo called for from timo : ;to time to replace men '.sent down from Trentham Camp as being unfit from one : cause : .or another.,/,/'• / . Officers' are calculated at a rate of one to fdrty men. This is the mini//'mum required/nath' the/drafts for training and, disciplinary purposes. , Tho ob- ■ ;;iect in sending siich a small proportion ; - is .that promotion to fill vacancies -may largely be,made fr6m tho ranks in the: ■ field. .Officers and non-commisisohed officers are required'to come, into'Tren- , tha-m - Camp one month in. advance of . .the remainder of the draft,' so that' they . may undergo.-'preliminaryinstruction. ■' " before commencing /the -instruction of •their men. : Officers aro on probation ■ up to. the time -they leave Trentham •: Camp. Non-commissioned• officers are , on • probation until confirmed in ' their / . appointments on joining: the Expeditionary , Force. The principle is that non-commissioned officers . aro to -bo : : -drawn from the ranks from, men who. v have proved themselves by their work ■ in the field.

A New Reorultlng Sohemo. The first two months of training in Trentham will be devoted to recruit training, musketir, and individual training, and . the last two, months will be . devoted to company and squadron training. > Tlie Defence Department is now preparing circulars giving full information for,intending recruits. Post-cards for tho-registrations \of names ; will soon be obtainable at all post offices throughout ■, the .Dominion. Patriotic committees are invited to assist in the distribution .01 tho circulars and cards,;to likely re-.-cruits.;. The circulars ,and. cards will be issued as soon as possible after. the New ear holidays by ; the Government Printing Office. - / At the request of . the Imperial. Government one. horse is. being sent with each officer and man of the reinforcefor mounted rifles, and in addition horKs- have to ■ replace wastage, calculated at; 5 per cent, per month for the whole of the Expeditionary Force, will mean that a batch of nearly. ,'OO horses will be sent with every rein- : forcement draft every two months. The /purchase of horses is in the hands of Government, buyers at Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunedin. / BETTER ORGANISATION STATEMENT BY THE HON. JAS ALLEN. - The Hon. J. Allen, Minister of Defence. !n conversation with ,'a Dominion re- ' porter yesterday, said: "We have made : arrangements to carry on the business of recruiting on a more definitely organised plan than we have'been/following. We propose to issue cards for . signature to post offices, and defence offices all over the country, and every man who'wishes to register' for service will bo given a card to sign. This card mil. also show when ■he will be available.; Before wo call upon a man to commenco his training wo will call .him ■up for . medical examination. He will not have to leave his work then, but will be able to go back to his business until wo call him up. Tho advantage of the arrangement to the Department is that we shall know where to find our men ; all over New Zealand when we .want them. We intend to ask the aid 'of the; various''patriotic societies in the' Efferent districts to help us in inducing "aien to register. "Up till the present/we' have had «o difficulty in getting sufficient men. We want about 600 infantry men in ; now. In future wo propose to \rain the men for four months, instead »f from two to three months, as hay (been our practice to date. Every two pionths a contingent will be sent away, so that we; shaJl 'havo half the men doming into : camp fresh- every two months.

"I do not think there is any likelihood of heavier demands for men baing 'made upon Now Zealand in the. future. The Mother Country 'has twice altered tho rate at which reinforcements are to be sent, and 1 think the last arrangement will stand. Wo aro now asked to send reinforcements at the rate-of 15 -per cent, per month. for infantry, and ten per cent, par month for mounted men. We require, in order to keep up the supply-of horses for'the now men and for the wastage of the horses in the field, about 700 or 800 horses every two months. Up till tho present weliavo had;no great difficulty in finding the horses wo need."