"FIFTEENTHS" ON PARADE

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2829, 21 July 1916, Page 6

"FIFTEENTHS" ON PARADE

the governor's Review ' ADDRESS BY THE CHIEF OF ■ . '■ STAFF "GET TO THE FRONT" Tie Fifteenth Infantry, and Engineers Bainforcemenfe, under Captain H. L. Evatt, were reviewed by His Excellency the Governor at Trentham ' yesterday morning. During his inspection of the troops, His Excellency was accompauied "by Colonel C. M. Gibbon, Chief of the General Staff; Lientenanl-Colonel 11. R. Totter, Camp Commandant; LieutenantColonel C. It. Macdonald, Chief Infantry Instructor; Lieutenant-Colonel H. li. Pilkington, late Adjutant-General, -who ivill leave as O.C. the draft; and the Camp Adjutant and Assistant Adjutant; Captain K C. Dovey and Captain \V. M. Bell. - The Trentham Camp Band was in attendance, and the number of tiu public present was small. -Despite the dull weather, the massed troops made a good showing, and in the .march past the 1 saluting base showed excellent discipline. : Captain Dovey will be staff officer to Lieut.-Colonel Pilkihgton, and will ■ leave in charge of a portion of the draft. : In the afternoon the. Fifteenth Infantry and. Engineers' Reinforcements wero "addressed-, by Colonel C. •M. Gibbon, Chief of tho General Staff. Colonel Gibl)on prefaced ]iis words of advice to the men with. au interesting summary of the work done, by each arm of the draft. Tho Mounted -Rifles, who had gone on in advance, he said, wero the. best draft that had 3;et',been sent from New Zealand. Their musketry beat all previous records, being over 117 in figure of merit.' The artillery wero a very good draft.- Judging by tho result of their field firing they were better trained than any that' had preceded- them, and their conduct was good. The Engineers had ■undergone a longer period of training in technical work than any other draft, and. in consequence they were better trained than any that had been sent away. Tile Engineers' Signal Unit 'was «. good one, and up to tho averago ot the last two drafts that had gone. The Machine-gun Specialists were also a good ■ lot, and had been further trained man -previous ones. Colonel Gibbon said ho ; regretted, that the now machine-guns had -not arrived in time for tho draft to 'undergo a full course of training with them, such ,-is would be gone'through by future drafts. The Infantry Signal Unit "w-as not quito as good -as the previous one.; The Infantry were, on the average, rather younger men than the preceding two drafts. Their inarch discipline was better than that of any draft for some time past. Their musketry, however, wa f, Jlo '' One company had pulled' the average down considerably, and as there was some doubt as to the correctness of the figures, this company •wouid retire its course before leaving Jiew Zealand. The discipline had been good, hut there was room for improvement in the matter of the number of men who'wero absent without leave. He reminded the men that in France, being absent without leave-was a serious oftfence, which was punished ■ most severely. J'ho Army Service Corps drAft was a good one; all tho A.S.C. drafts had c IV consistently good since tho period ef their training had been lengthened. j How the Game Must Be Played. ."V°n «» going to France," said Colonel Gibbon, "or, we hope, to Belgium or Gorinany. Don't run away with the idea that the New Zealanders ■ are the only soldiers engaged in the war. TJiero are more soldiers in Prance than there are people in New Zealand and Australia put together, probably. Although what Jias been done here is large for the. size ot the oountry, compared with the efforts of larger countries, it is small, liven a whole division is a small unit among the armies of the Allies. I want each man to uj>hold the name 'of New Zealand and ilie honour of the Anzacs. Officers and men will come up against difficulties—useless difficulties, they will seem very often. It may seem-'as thougln they were put in one's ivay, and you will have to bear with privations. But you'vegot te take the rough with the smooth: Soldiers always have something to grouse about, but the good soldier keeps his grousing to himself. Always make any complaints you may have through your officers. Don't have a deputation. Such a; thing hiis scarcely ever occurred iu the camps. Tha-t is, a civilian's method. Ifyou follow it, your reputation will ' bo gone among the troops at tho front." Colonel Gibbon emphasised the importance of the men backing up their officers as regards the maintaining of discipline on the dull sea voyage. They nrust have discipline,'and they'must get to the front. There were several metli'Ods of falling out, such as being absent St"the time of jailing, and missing the transports at the'ports of call. Men usually wero. left'.behind'because they went to have.a drink. If they could not trust themselves they should keep clear of it or get their teetotal pals to go along with them. There were at present ili New Zealand some men who had been ' left behind' at ports of call and had since been returned to this country. They were now awaiting trial by court-martial. The man who stayed behind in that way assisted the enemy just as mueli as the man who ran away in battle. The object was to bring fresh troops into action to fight the enemy and kill the enemy. ."I want the draft," -snid Colonel Gibbon, in conclusion, "to keep up- its discipline so that when it lands it will not have forgotten what it has been taught in the camps; and so that people will remark on the fine lot of men who came .from New Zealand. There -is nothing .more to jay. 1 hope you will all do your best. No man can do more."