MEN IN TRAINING

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2630, 27 November 1915, Page 6

MEN IN TRAINING

CAMP NEWS

BIG LIST OF N.C.O.'S

NEXT ROUTE MARCH

At Trentham the following temporary appointments have been made

9th. Artillery.—Gunners Alder, Crawford, Hamilton, Janes, Jones, M'Lean, Miller, Miller, Milne, O'Connor, Haughey, Hutchinson, Williams, Haxel], and Stewart, to bo Bombardiers; Gunner Lynch, to be Corporal.

... 10th Artillery.—Gunners Biss, Ingold, and Lewin, to be Bombardiers. No. 4 Platoon.—Corporals Crisp and Clark, to be. Sergeants..

■ C Company, 10th Reinforcements.— Corporal Abemethy, to be Company Sergeant-Major; Corporals M'Queen, Mallach, 'Abemethy, Barker, Norms, Torode, and Sapsford ; , to .be Sergeants. E Company,. 10th Reinforcements.— Corporals Simmonds, Thompson,, and Webber, to be Sergeants; Pto. Allen, to be Corporal. '

F Company, 10th Reinforcements.— Corporal Madden, to be Sergeant-Major; Corporals Marr, Lennan, Irvine, Schmidt, Bongard, Fetch, Walsh, and Ridiards,. to .be . Sergeants; Corporal /Sinclair,' .to. be Corporal; Corporal ■ Le Orderly-Room Corporal.

;'v; N.Z.vField;Engmeers,. 9th Reinforce•luents'.—Sapper Boswell, to be Sergeant. . 11th' Artillery.—Gunners Brewer, Farr, Hacon, Otley, Peek, Stubbs, Turner, Grave,' Ekstedt, and Knight, to bo Corporals. \ Ist Reserve Squadron, No. 1 Troop.— Corporals' Howe and Gooding, to be Sergeants. Ist Reserve Squadron, No. 2 Troop.— Corporals Rees and Pennefather, to be Sergeants; Corporal M'Dermott, to be Lance-Sergeant. . 2nd Reserve Squadron.—Corporals Nicol, M'Cartney, and Dyke, to be Sergeants.

A. Company, 10th Reinforcements. — Corporal Esam, to be Company Sergeant•Major. N0.. ; l Platoon.—Corporals Hally and Davie-s, to. be Sergeants. No. 2 Platoon.—-Corporals , Wingrove and Harold, to .be Sergeants. No. 3 Platoon. Ancell and Montgomery, to be Sergeants.. Rid) Brigade Transport Office. Lieutenant A. F. Miller has been transferred from the 12th Reinforcements, Army Service Corps, to the New Zealand Rifle Brigade as Transport Officer. '• • . Offtoers and N.C.O.'s at Tauherenikau. The following officers have arrived in camp at -Tauherenikau: —Captain T. B. Bax, ! Captain S. C. Ash ton, Lieutenant R. 'W. Sparrow, Lieutenant F. B. French,-2nd Lieutenant J. T. Steven.

The folio-wing temporary appointments, lave been made at 'I'auherenikau:—Pee. Sissons, A Company, ,9 th, to be LanceCorporal; Pte. Somcvs, A Company, 9tli, to be Lance-Corporal; Pte. -Meyrick, A Company,, 9tli, to be'Lance-Corporal; Lce.-Corpl. Crisp, E Company, 9th, to be Corporal; Lce.-Corpl. Nicholson, E Company, 9th, to be Corporal; Pte. Chapman, E Company, 9th, to be Order-ly-Room Sergeant; Pte.. Hathaway, E Company, 9th, to be Lance v Corporal; Pte.- Shearer,. E Company, 9th, to be Lance-Corporal;: Pte. Cargill, E . Company, 9th, to be Lance-Corporal) Pte. Waters, E Company, 9th, .to be, LajicojjSftrpoVal';; Pte.. Chrlstain, E /'Company, '9t&, to be Lance-Corporal; Pte. fteilson, E Company, 9th, to be Lanoe-Corporal; ;Pte. Hylt-on, E Company, 9th, to be , Lance-Corporal ; Pte. Charters, E Company, 9th, to be Lance-Corporal; Pte. Tassie, E Company, 9th, to be LanceCorporal. . Men on Leave. ■ About 700 soldiers' on leave from the 'training camps will arrive in Auckland 'this week.; Seventy'arrived yesterday,and 650 reach 'Auckland this morning. These men will enjoy a week's leave, and on' the evening of Saturday, December 4, they will depart by train for the south. It is possible' that the military authorities; will order the 700 men to parade at the Drill Hall early on the evening of Saturday,' December 4, arid that they will- then march' through the main streets .to the station. It .is thought' that'such an arrangement, besides stimulating recruiting, would give Auckland people au opportunity of seer the fine class 1 of men of which the reinforcement drafts are composed, and give the' public an idea of the excellent effect of -a few week's military training. A Frenoh "Rookie;" 'A new recruit for New Zealand Expeditionary Forces was secured in an unusual. manner .the other day during a ■ train journey from Wellington to Trentham. A native of France, who was .apparently, penniless,, got on the train at 'Wellington..He had intended to get out a.t':Petohe,.but at that station be was fast.asleep, and not until the guard : came' to', light did "he realise the fact. ! The guard- however, having- hoard the case,.gave him a free ride—only to the next station. A member of the Engineer Corps, who , was on the train, writes: "We, noticing ho had something clever belo-w his fine .dark locks, sympathised ;with' him, and he started to .sing some songs.; None.of us were linguists, and we doubted his nationality, wondering whether ho hailed from the north of Scotland or Germany,, until I remembered my school days and used some French, ho answering, in that language. On finding that he was a single man, ■we a3ked him to join the boys, which he did with pleasure, and he is now numbered with the Engineers. A better specimen would be hard to find."

Tho Tunnglers at Avondale, 'The Minister of Defence (the Hon. J. Allen) visited Avondale Camp, where the Tunnelling Corps is in training, on Wednesday. Only 150 of, the 450 men were present, the others being on leave. After inspection the men wero briefly addressed by the Minister, who intimated that he had a message to convey to them from, the Governor. His Excellency had written to him as follows:— "i believe you are leaving for Auckland on November 21, and will see the Tunnelling Company. Will you kindly ! tell the men how sorry I am that I shall not bo able to come and see them before they go,' but owing to the fact that the hospital ship Marama is leaving practically on or about the samedate, and that I have undertaken the management of her interior equipment, I cannot leave Wellington. I am very vexed that they should be the onlv troops ..that, I have not been able to wish God-speed to on their departure from the Dominion, but I know they will appreciate the reason that prevents me from so doing. Will you therefore on my behalf wish the officers, non-commis-sioned officers, and men every success in the undertaking on which they are about to'embark, a pleasant voyage, and a speedv and safe return to New Zealand." , .. Captain Monk (mcdical officer) reported to the Minister that, the health of the men is excellent, notwithstanding the. fact that rain had fallen on 27 out - of the'3s days that tho men have been in training. ' Tho. Minister expressed his complete satisfaction.'with tho work of tho camp. Tho sanitary and cooking arrangements were good, and there, was nothing in the camp which gave ground for any oomjdaint. ,H$ that the dMcinlina,

of the men, reflected much credit on tho officers responsible for their training.

"The Tenth" Settling Down. ' . Troiitham is once more a busy_ training'camp, tho Tenth Reinforcements having settled down to work'with much keenness. 9pri"g this week, tho parade and tifjnning grounds liavo been dotted with squads and platoons of men, learning their drill. At other points denim-clad groups wore intent upon their.musketry instruction. Nearly :aH the mon liavo received .their rifles, and'.in many cases the second issue of boots has been. made. ( Yesterday .was pay ; day, and tho new soldiers received their -first pay. It is' not expected thatthe i Tenth. Mounteds will- move"to 'l'auherenikau. as the. Ninth did for somo time yet. The Ninth 'Mounteds' . are still at Tauherenikau; and tho ; date upon which they are to go on; their extended leave is. said to .bo .uncertain. All this week drafts of infantry--on leave from Tauhorenik.au .have ..been passing through Wellington,' bound" for places,, both remote and _ near, i . The peoplo at their home turns cannot but bo -impressed by the>.great' changfc which the period of training ;has wrought in the men.Trentham Drainage. Work on tho very complete drainage scheme which is boing installed m Trentham Camp is being pushed on with. The stream into winch the septio tanks .will discharge- has. been widened, deepened, and cleared' of willows and reeds, from a point below tho Silverstream Railway Station to another between ■ Heretaunga and the camp. The work will be continued up to the camp borders. The stream, in its natural course, winds towards Heretaunga, but a now and moro direct course has been cut, which will keep the stream on tho eastern side of the railway until it reaches - Silvetstrea-m. Somo fairly heavy excavating lias been necessitated at tliis point, and the uprooting of willows lias also been strenuous work. When completed/{-lie new drain will give a. clear run. to the river for tho outflow from tho tanks. The largest of the septic tamks is situated at the south end of the camp Uiar the hot water bathroom.' . It is of' considerable size, and. is being constructed of ferro-concrete. 1 liquid drainage, except the water from the' baths, will be dealt with by septic tanks beforo being discharged Snto the drain. Solid refuso is burnt in incinerators, of . tho pattern designed by tho Camp ' Quartermaster, Captain M'Chrj-stall, which have provejd so successful. at May Morii. . • Horsss at Tauhcrsnlkau. Tho temporary camp at Tauherenikau has an interest peculiarly its own, owing to the fact that all the mounted'men are trained there, and that tlierd aro 400, horses in the horse-lines. The hcrses are blacks, bays, browns, and chestmuts, and no white markings aro observable. They are fed and watered three .times a day, and the operation is carxidd out in l methodical military fashion. When a squadron returns to' camp from drill and manoeuvres, which are carried out .On land some distance away.,.the squad, ton'is halted at the.watering troughs— in this case it is an irrigation channel. | The various troops which - form the squadron are drawn up-in order. Two I men out of every section of 'four are ] sent off to.get the.feed-bags, while the remaining troopers water the : horses, each having charge of two. At the word | of command each troop comes forward, and the horses drink tlieir fill. Thou, they, turn away to the right, where tlia men with the feed-bags aro waiting. Each man slings a feed-bag over his shoulder and mounts, and tlio troop moves off to the horse-lines, which aro about half a milo distant from the' infantry camp. A noticeable 'feature is the quiet way .in which the men liandle their horses. This is an important parti of thoir training, one of the first things aimed at being the inbiiing :of "tho animals with'confidence. Wheal this has been accomplished they pick up the drill, with remarkable ease, and quickness. Tho mounting and dismounting, saddling; and unsaddling, and handling the horsei) in tho lines, everything is done quietly l , so that no nervous horse's may become alarmed.. The horses at Tauherenikau are, on the whole, a good, useful-looking lot,- and aro in excellent'! condition. The Muskejry Course. There is no rifle range at TauTiereuikau Camp,, and only a small one at May Morn. For this reason the . men must proceed to Trentham for part or all of that portion of their musketry training which includes practice at firing at targets. In the case of the 3rd and 4th Battalions of'the New Zealand Rifle Brigade, the men were being sent down to Trentham oyery day during the'past week, and will continue to do so until they leave May Morn about next 'Wednesday. The Ninth Reinforcements, encamped at Tauherenikau, have done lio rifle shooting yet, as. they'had td loave Trentham soon after they went into training, to allow tho Eighth to I return and complete their musketry icourse. The Ninth, however, will return to Trentham as soon as they come back from leave, and will have nearly three weeks' training on the rifle range. Their moving from Tauherenikau to Trentham will, it is. cspected, be accomplished by a route march' over the Rimutakas. Hitherto only the infantry hfivo taken part in these marches. But the route march of the Ninth may ber even more imposing than tho previous ones, as it is possible that tho Engineers, Mounteds, and Artillerv will b(? included, making a column of over 2000. men.

What a Route March; Means. To the civilian, the idea of a route march is simply that the _ soldiers, marching four abreast in their respec-. tive companies, set out fiiom one place to reach another. That they march in' column-of-route, arid a miiin has to keep fit if he wants to keep : paco- with his comrades. But there is; a lot more in it than that to the soldier. In the first place, there must : bo no hurrying or rivalry at the outset, when the rcn ure fresh, the tendency is for them to make the pacc fast. This has to be chcckcd. Then, wheal an incliue is reached, the leaders are liable to shorten stride. This means' that the companies following- pile up upon them. If there is a down-grado on the ether side of the hill, the leaders will lengthen their stride, and leave those who are still on the- up-grjade. On a route march 'officers and orderly officers take up positions, and count the number of paces per minute taken by the troops. ' They also count the number of men wlio pass! during that t.imo, and regulate their marching accordingly. On a long march any discrepancies in the rate of speed of different companies soon , become most marked, and a r 61umn on the march must not occupy more than a given space. It is partly to regulate and steady the pace that the company that was marching in the rear is moved to the 'head of the oo'uu'n. a'j every halt. Another reason,is that the change freshens the men, for it is always more pleasant to raaroli in the load. Similarly, it is easier to march at the outside of a file _ of, four men. So at each rest, tho inside men movo to the outside. A properly-conducted route march is therefore something more thajn a test of endurance; it is.the marching of a perfectly-organised 111aohino which never lengthens or contracts, never hastens' and never lags, but goes onward steadily, at a pace of three miles an hour. These things make a successful route mhrch ovor 'rough roads like thoso of tlie Ttinuitakas all the mora crediiablo. to all concerned.