MEN AND THE CALL

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2632, 1 December 1915, Page 6

MEN AND THE CALL

SERIOUS SHORTAGES

IN WELLINGTON MILITARY DISTRICT SLUMP IN INFANTRY CHIEFLY IN CITY AND TARANAKI. For the Eleventh Reinforcements, who are to go into camp on December 14, the Wellington Military District is required to find 778 meii. On the books of the district are 1126 men fit and .available for that force. On those figures it may seem that the Wellington District has ample men, but such is not actually the case. The fact is that the. latest figures disclose a serious shortage of infantry. Our true position on official figures iß:— Needed 537 infantry Available 427 infantry, Shortage .■ 110 infantry There are only two weeks to get the men. The_ total number of men required in the district at the end of last week, when the latest returns were compiled, was 1875: — Fit 1704 Not oxamined 171 .Total required 1875 • Another analysis of the books showed: Fit 1704 Fit and available for December... 1126 Fit,' but not available till after Christmas 578 Not examined I 171 Total for consideration for January draft 749 A detailed statement of the position is: • ' J- ' S 1 . .3 5o ci ii o • S »'■§ 'rj4 ~ a 8 oo t % .■s 5 8 "8 °S>V2 Mounted ... 322 222 61 29 12 Artillery ... 278 172 15' 31 3 Engineers ... 108 70 0 20 2 Signal Serv. 30 23 — 9 Infantry .... 685 427 52 66 53 A.S.C. 123 109 5 16 4 Ambulance ( J9 73 18 8 2 Hospital Ship 13 11 2 1 — Veterinary 9 5 — 1 3 Skilled Tunnellers 5,1 1 1 1 Unskilled Tunnellers 7 4 5 — 1 I'ay Corps .. . 2 2 —. — Machine Gunners .. 1 1 — — — Maoris 17 6 3 — — ■. Total ... 1704 1126 171 183 81 So, while the Wellington District has on its books 250 per cent., the number of man "it, immediately requires, it is, nevertheless, short of men, in as much as the infantry arm cannot yet adequately be supplied. Thero are nearly 600 men who are written down as "not available till after 'Christmas." and out of 685 fit infantrymen registered nearly 40 per cent.—2sß—are not immediately available. In all the arms, except infantry, enough men are available, but the shortage o.f .infantry is (in view of the current rate of roc'ruitins) heavy. Tile district's. December requirements, together with the numbers of men avail-, able, arp shown in the tables which follow: Wellington military district is divided into five groups, as follows:— Group s—Wellington City and Suburbs. Group 6 —Manawatu. Group 7—Hawke's Bay and Poverty Bay Group 7a —Wairnrapa Group B—Taranaki

Tho district's and the group's quotas for the Eleventh Reinforcements are:—

5 0 7- 7a, 8 11 •Mounted ... 34 28 20 19 25 126 Artillery 31 16 — 6 — ' 53 Engineers ... 13 13 —' 5 — 31 Signal Service 4 1 — 3 — 8 Infantry 144 120 80 83 110 637 A.S.C 4 3 — — — 7 Ambulance ... 8 6 — 2—16 Total ....... 233 187 100 118 135 778 The numbers of men fit and available in the district audi, in the, groups are shown in this table: — 5 :6 7 7a 8 Tl. Mounted ... 46 72 56 36 12 222 Artillery 106 22 19 11 14 172 Engineers ... 27 27 4 6 6 70 Signal Service 13 8 — 11 23 Infantry ... 72 158 78 74 45 427 A.S.C 64 23 8 5 9 109 Ambulance 30, 19 6 7 5 73 Hospital Ship — 4 4 2 1 11 Veterinary — 3—ll 5 Skilled Tunnellers — — — — 1 1 TJnskilled'Tunnellers ...... -r-3 1 — — 4 Pay Corps ... —' 1 1 — 2 Maoris — 5 — — 16 Machine Gunners ... — — — 1 — 1 Total 364 344 177 145 961126 Reducing all these figures into a table showing the' position as regards infantry, the following result is obtained:— Infantry Infantry Infantry short- ' quota, available, age. Group 5 ... 144 72 72 Group 6 ... 120 158 — Group 7 ... 80 78 2 Group 7a .... 83 . .74 9 Group 8 ...110 ' 45 ". '65 Total ...' 537 " 427 (net) 110 The chief shortages in infantry, therefore. are in Wellington City a,nd Taraliaki. The'outlook in Tarmaki appears to have suddenly changed completely. Until lately that group was always well ahead of requirements. Now, in addition to a shortago in infantry, there is a shortage in mounted's there. The infantry and mounted quotas for the Wellington district were allotted on a population basis, but it is understood that a readjustment may be made. For one thing, while all the other groups are short in infantry, Mariawatu has a surplus of 38 available for December.