MORE MEN?

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2519, 14 July 1915, Page 9

MORE MEN?

" NOW OR IN THE FUTURE THE CHIEF AIM AN INTERESTING report by COLONEL GIBBON

A! memorandum on the .provision of reinforcement drafts 'for tlio Expeditionary, Force, prepared l>y tho Chief of the General' Staff (Golonel Gibbon), was tabled in tho -House of Hepresontatirea yesterday by tho Defence Minister (the Hon. J. Allen). "It. must be. realised," writes Colonel Gibbon, ''that tho Reinforcements which are sent from New Zealand are not intended to inoreaso .the size of the Expeditionary Force in the field. Their role is to maintain tfliat force in tho field at full strength, and at its full fighting efficiency at all times. Casualties, whether caused by deaths, wounds, sickness, or strain, must be made good by efficient and, lit. men within a few hours, otherwise defeat may be tho result. The principle laid down in the Field Service Regulations of the British. Army is that •lipinforcemcnts must be available arid ready to replace wastage before casualties occur. The scale of wastage, calculated from the experience of past wars; has proved to be an underestimate, and New Zealand' has had to increase her efforts accordingly. There was .a tendency in the eaTly part, of the present year to criticise ' the necessity for such largo .reinforcements to be sent before the Expeditionary ' Force had seen a shot fired. Actual events, however, in the Dardanelles hare iAown the wisdom of the policy laid down by the Army Council, . -

' New Units. ''But -New Zealand has .not limited horself to providing reinforcements on this greatly increased scale. She has in v dition. provided. many new units subsequent to the dispatch of the main • body of the Expeditionary Force. It must not ■be lost sight of that all these new units 'require reinforcements on the same scalo as those units which accompanied the main body. For instance, the scale of reinforcements required for infastry' is calcjilated at 180 per cent, per annum. If, therefore, a hew battalion is offered, it means that almost tiro additional battalions must be provided, as reinforcementsi for ' that one battalion for each year the war ma.y continue.-

For a Long War, If at . any time there may bo a. temporary surplus of registrations great care is, necessary before the popular cry to make an increased offer of fresh troops can be acceded to. To put units into tho held which' waste away for' want of reinforcements js entirely opposed to the principles laid. down by the Imperial Government .-for the maintenance of our armies in tho field. We have to prepare for a. war which; may lost for three years., it would "be, an" everlasting difejraco to New Zealand if before the mar came to' an end she had to confess that she could not maintain iher Expeditionary Force in the, field. The honour of putting a large number of units', into the field at the one time ;wcml<l be forgotten in. the - failme to maintain: them there.- .We must prepare /o\ a I6ttg war, and- it is.essential that we should iount .tho.coist, and make suxc_ that "our resources of men are m suoVii manner as to-last to the fimefhi. New Zealand must not be exj hausted before peicft has been declared

Tho Limitations, In addition, to the limitation of-avail-able numbers there are other limiting factors. They are:—(a) training staff; (W camp accommodation; (c) uniforms, u t'-i ' To consider these in detail:—.

(a) The size of Reinforcement drafts, ana the* consequent numbers of men in training,- must be'-limited, by- numbers • and • orgtoation 'of "/tho ''available instructional staff.-. - Applications" have been made loathe Imperial, and Indian Governments for the loan- of - additional instructors, but without succoss. To bring m .,F e a. te . r numbers than can be dealt with .efficiently involves a certainty of indifferent training.' . ' "(b) The accommodation: available lin camp must necessarily limit the numbers of men who can bo called in for training a \ any-one time. It must .not be forgotten that not only, is: shelter,' whether tents or huts, required, but also sanitation',' water supply,, medioal' arrangements, stores, etc., must be thought of. Experience in handling large numbers is,essential. The principle which, 6ns- been foltowed _ since the inauguration of Tr'entham Training Camp is that no increase is ever undertaken until the whole camp organisation has been , running smoothly at normal with the existing size of the camp. ' (c) The provision of. uniforms, blankets, and articles of kit was felt as a serious obstacle in the early months- of the war.' The. calculation of drafts months ahead of the time they are required/and the consequent possibility of letting suitable contracts, has done much to overcome this difficulty../ Saddlery,' blankets, and other articles of clothing and * equipment have from to time provided temporary, limitations. The provision ■of boots in sufficient numbers has always been a difficult problem. , "(d) The Imperial. Government, up, to the present, has requested that all men of Mounted Rifles and liifanti-y Reinforcements should take-Tides with them from New Zealand. : As is well known, the supply of rifles in the .Dominion is not inexhaustible, and_ consequently this has always proved a limiting factor to the number of men which can be' offered and trained by Now: Zealand. Attempts,have been made to procure rifles from the Imperial Government, the Indian Government, th 6 Canadian Government, and the Commonwealth Government, but always Without 6UCC6SS. .

' Argument for One Camp, ."The institution of local training camps for the Reiriforcemente of the Expeditionary Force has been advocated 'on many occasions. It is not, however, considered: advisable, or practical to accede to this request. While Trentham is able to oope emciently with the numbers of men under training, there is ho necessity to institute local camps, for which it would now be practically impossible to provide efficient.staffs. Every Staff Corps officer: left in the country has a definite task to perform' in Trentham Camp or in connection with the Territorial Forces, and sufficient numbers could not be spared for local training camps. Local training camps would not only increase difficulties of training, but would also involve extra expenditure. Every concentration camp would require equipment, clothing, and supplies, stores, and staffs, instead of only one set of stores and one staff, as in the case of Trentham Camp. Another great disadvantage with reprard to local concentration camps in that men would not come under the influenco of the excellent spirit which now pervades the. Trfcntham Camp. This spirit took at least four months to develop,, and that un-, der the influence; of. the most strenuous ondeavour. It is considered that it would be very difficult to obtain this spirit in local camps throughout the Dominion. /

"Dfafts are sent off at regualr intervals, as thereby a standard course . of training is rendered .possible. This, is not only of importance os simplifying training-in New Zealand, but it also enables the Imperial Government to make suitable arrangements for giving whatever further -instruction may be required before men'are sent to the font. To send uneven drafts would be to render the mixtion' of further training extremely difficult. Defence of Registration System. "The registration system has-been criticised to a certain extent in the Press of the Dominion, and somo pressure has beon brought to bear ori the Defence Department to .replace it by a. system of immediate acceptance of a recruit on presenting himself for enlistment. In actual practice the registration system lias worked out well, and proved efficient. The object of New Zealand recruiting is to obtain a certain definite fluota, for the Imperial Government at definite stated intervals., There-has been m lack of men undir the registration system, whilst under what may be termed tho. direct: en* •listment system there has been, according. to t'l» Press cables, difficulty, in find..

ing tho requisite numbers both in the United Kingdom and Australia. Provision of Officers. "With a view to conserving the supply of Territorial officers available, two or three gentlemen were sent in by the Auckland district as officers who had no previous military experience. These gentlemen were permitted to come into Trentham camp in order to ascertain whether it was. possible to turn out efficient officers from civilians with the courso of training in the camp. As a. result of tho experience so gained it was decided not to accept for "service ■as oivilian candidates. Civilians who aspire to obtain commissions in tlvo Expeditionary Force must obtain their commissions from tho ranks, as explained in the section below dealing with non-commissioned officers.'

"All officers are required to come into Trentham Camp five weeks before their men are due to como in. This preliminary training has produced' excellent results, and officers who havo been through the course have in the majority of cases, been found to be fully competent to undertake the preliminary training of their men on arrival in the camp. Opportunity is also afforded during this preliminary . training to weed out officers who are not likely to prove efficient. "Very large numbers of officers are required to supply tho Reinforcement drafts m tho future. Tho strain is already being felt. The supply of available- officers from the Territorial Force is gradually being exhausted. The question of triop and platoon leaders does not afford any cause for anxiety. Thero is an inexhaustible supply of good young officers available from the ranks of tho Reinforcement drafts. Tho difficulty is to keep up the supply of suitable squadron and company commanders." The smallest possible number of suitable senior officers is called up For each draft. All vacancies which may occur in a draft in the courso f.f training are filled uj> to the best advantage from the draft itself.

PROPOSED NATIONAL' REGISTER, 'In view of Lord Kitchener's appeal for "men, and still more, men," Mr. A. M. Myers, M.P., gave notice in Parliament yesterday to ask the Minister of Defence to take into immediate consideration:— (1) The desirability of compiling a national register of all men in New Zealand- between- nineteen and forty years of age, with a view to' ascertaining the number of single eligible men who havo not yet enlisted; and (2) the desirability of increasing our Expeditionary Force to fifty thousand men. .