LOCAL CAMPS?

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2643, 14 December 1915, Page 7

LOCAL CAMPS?

THE MILITARY VIEW-POINT

REPORT BY COLONEL GIBBON

A REPLY TO THE RECENT

DEPUTATION

A very exhaustive report on the subjects about which a deputation of members of Parliament interviewed the Prime Minister on.Saturday has been furnished to tho Defence-Minister by Colonel Gibbon, and 'Mr. Allen has made the report available for publication. The question generally has still to be considered by Cabinet.

Following are the- main points' in the report of tho Chief of tho General Staff

"It appeared to me that the deputation had not made up their minds as to what they meant by local camps, and accordingly very diverse and conflicting ideas ivere expressed. The main proposals were as follow

"Messrs. Poole, Payne, Witty, Dickson, and Field, also Dr. Thacker, spoke in favoflr of a local camp at which all preparatory training should be carried out. Suggestions were made that only the last month should be spent in the central camps. This would mean that of twelve thousand men in training nine thousand would be accommodated in local camps, tlu'ee thousand in Trentham, Featherston being vacant. Mr. Diokson suggested the last two months being spent in the central camps. This would mean GOOO men in training in the local camps and CflOO in tho central camps. It can only be stated emphatically that to accede to such proposals would imperil tho efficiency of the New Zealand reinforcements to a most dangerous degree. Dr, Thacker's Jdeas. "Dr. Thacker also suggested that the local camps should be a sort of convalescent camp, in which unfits might be made fit for service. The Defence Department should have nothing to do with men who are not apparently fit for sorvice. Any preparation required should be undertaken by a civil branch of the Government. Attention to the teeth of possible recruits is reasonable, as there is some certainty that the attention will produce tho necessary fitness. In the case of operations for varicose veins, varicocele; hernia, etc., there is no guarantee that the results will be satisfactory, and a considerable period of recuperation is necessary before the possible r.ecruit is fit to undergo strenitous training. There should still be sufficient sound recruits in the Dominion to obviate the necessity for an organised caml>aigh to 1 recruit unfits in the hope of their being problematical efficients after undergoing treatment." "Dr.. Thacker also put forward a suggestion which can only be termed a proposal'for a civilian club at which uniform could be worn. The object was not apparent.. The men were to go on with their civil avocations and to spend their evenings in this so-called camp or club. By wearing uniform these men would escape criticism as shirkers, but since they would not be undergoing strict and strenuous training any expenditure of Government would be wastfcd. For Back-Blocks Men. Sir James Carrol pu.t forward tho suggestion of a local receiving camp to accommodate men in from the back-blocks whom the Defence Department were not ready to take at the moment of offering. He tiaid that the Gisborne people were -prepared to undertake tho whole of their camp free of cost and without assistance from tlie Government., There is something to be said for snch local receiving camps in the centres to which men from the back-blocks congregate. When recruits are short there are few objections, but when recruits are many either tho.camp is left with a,-surplus when "a quota, is called up for tlie-.cqntral.camps, or 'preference must be given-to men who go into such central camps in order to clear them out. It must, however,- be emphatically stated that .such camps would be most undesirable ill the urban districts to which few back-blocks men come. .

Reasons for the Request, "When I asked 'the deputation to say n-hetlier they were out for 'local training camps' or for 'receiving cimps,' sucli as proposed by Sir James Carroll, the reply ■was unanimous in favour of. 'receiving camps.' I therefore purposely did not touch on the subject of local camps, but only dealt briefly with receiving camps. This after-resolution was not in accord with the opinions expressed by several members of the - deputation as I have stated them. Tho only reasons put forward for local camps were:— . "(a) To assist recruiting by the influence of the men undergoing training and. in the streets.. As 1 replied the men should'not be allowed in the street m uniform until thy have done two or three weeks traiiiing. . "(b) To enable relations and friends to visit their Soldier relatives and acquaintances and vice versa. The question of expense in travelling was emphasised. Efficiency the only Factor. "The. possibility of increased efficiency was in no case put forward, as a reason for local camps. Efficiency of training of the New Zealand, reinforcements for tho front is tlic only, factor which should be allowed to have any weight. BrigadierGeneral Sir A. Russell, in a private letter to me, received by the last mail, says: 'We canot afford to throw away a single trick in this game. We are out to win and nothing else.' To allow local camps would be certain deterioration in training, whilst the-impetus given to recruiting would be problematical and certainly transitory. With the shorter period elapsing between the dispatch of. drafts there will be more frequent opportunities for the country to see men on leave from the central camps, flho reasons ureed in favour of local camps as given above in (a) and lb) are only applicable in the case of local training camps and not of receiving camps. . Colonel Gibbon makes the following observations on some points raised:— Impetus Given to. Recruiting by Khaki. "Certainly'the sight of well-trained and smart soldiers 'in khaki .will assist recruiting, but it is impossible to produce such men in local : receiving camps, and practically impossible owing to difficulties of instruction, discipline, etc., m local training camps.

' Recruiting Best in Wellington. "The last timo : that I examined tho figures Wellington had not done as well in proportion to its population as ihad Bom© of tho' other groups, aiid this notwithstanding the fact that Wellington is the centre on which men congregate when 6ii holidays. 0 Local Instructors Available. "It was'suggested'that local instructors would be available if required from amongst rctared officers and N.C.O.'s, the permanent staff N.C.O.'s, and from officers and men returned from tho front. It must be stated that every soldier v;ho has returned tiftm the front does not make a competent instructor. Good 111structors are few and far between. This may be realised from the fact that we estimate in the training camps that an ex-officer of tho Imperial Army, will not bo of much use as an instructor for his first four months in camp, and that an N.C.O. of the Permanent Staff is of little valuo for two months, even then requiring constant supervision. Perfect instructors aro essential to. efficiency, and they aro difficult to obtain. I am now several infantry instructors and assistant instructors short and two mounted rifle officers aro badly needed. It is even difficult to obtain men to command the re«crvc squadrons and companies. Preparatory Camps, "Preparatory camps are not necfssar.y, nml will therefore bo a waste of public money. We can train men to bo efficient soldiers in the four-months' course at Trentham. If preparatory work was undertaken in local camps it would still bn impossible to curtail the full training programme. Training in preparatory camps has also the great disadvantage that the soldier does not get/the continuous training and continuity of instruction under cha'nging instructors that he gets under our system of working under the sama officers and jS.CjQ,'& isio Julys

been trained beforehand 'lor the purpose throughout his stay in cmiip. 'IJlio pcrtonal inlluence of the unit commander is inestimable. Visitors and Friends. "Visitors should not be allowed in camp ill tho early days of training:. This argument is not_ therefore applicable to rcteiving camp's. Racecourse Camps. "Racecourses situated i.n or on the outskirts of the large towns arc not desir-nbje.-iitc.-i for camps from (!hc disciplinary point of view, discipline is more important than anything 01,-:e; without it training can never be clKcient. Must Catch Recruits With Local Camps. "There is 110 certainty that recruits are to be obtained by means of local camps, whilst there is 11 certainty that training, nud therefore efficiency at the front, will suffer. The establishment of the camp at Rangiolu from July to October certainly did not produce any appreciable result in the increase of enlistments from that district. Tho group was one of the worst in tho "Wellington district in proportion to its population about that time. The establishment of the camp at Tauherenikuu .produced little result in tho Wuirarapa, and recruiting was at a very low ebb a couple of months ago. Tho reason was that tho local bodes did not try to obtain recruits. An interview with the Hon. Minister of Defence and the military authorities resulted in their hearty co-operation, and now AVairarapa is recruiting well. But the cause is to be traced to the efforts of tho lending residents, and not to the local camp. Break In Men In Local Camps. "The idea of breaking in men in local camps is entirely wrong. The best possible way of breaking in a recruit in the best sense is to get him right away from his former surroundings, and to bring him under the influence of discipline maintained by experienced officers, and of contact with men who have been partially through the mill themselves. The difficulty in training the Second and Third Keinforcements was that they camo fresh into camp by themselves without the example and influence of men with more training in front of them. Tho unwritten laws of the men themselves under the excellent spirit now prevailing in tho central camps have an. even greater deterrent effect 011 offenders than has the'fear of punishment by the camp authorities. Ur. Payne said it was very easy to break men in, but I say. from twenty years of experience tliat it is not. Direct Enlistment. ."For the past seven or eight . weeks there has been a slight shortage in the establishment of the men in tho train- • ing camps, and districts have been asked to send in ever}' available man to make up that shortage which has arisen through medical rejections. But the reply is invariably the same, that tho men do not want to go into camp at once, and that they prefer to wait until the next big draft. There are still shortages (but only to a minor extent), and the districts know that they can send in any man who offers to come—that is, for infantry—with- \ out a day's delay. But the men are not forthcomingf Actual practice, therefore, does not lead one to suppose that more recruits are likely to be forthcoming under the direct enlistment system. Is the system that produces the most efficient results from a training point of view, therefore, to be lightly abandoned ?"