ANOTHER WET MARCH

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2890, 30 September 1916, Page 8

ANOTHER WET MARCH

EIGHTEENTHS ON THE ROAD. .'•'Tliir. Eighteenth. Infantry Reinforccmcnts, who started on a. route march from Featherstpn to Trentham on Thursday morning.: experienced heavy .rain soon after leaving, and after a wet bivouac' at Kaitoke, on Thursday night,, marched, straight to. Trentham Camp. the' usual night operations .at Mangaroa were postponed, owing to : tho.rain. The troops, numbering 1600 men, under Lieutenant-Colonel C. K. Mac--don'ald, Chief Infantry Instructor, left Featherston Camp at 6.30. The weather was- fine and for two : , hours it remained so. Then the rain'bogan and continued without interruption until •Trentham was reached. The Summit was reached at 10.30 a.m., and after an hour's rest the-column moved on, reaching : Kaitoke at 1.30. ' Just-as the place of bivouac was reached an. exceptionally heavy shower fell and'cover had to bo taken under some trees; The troops bivouacked under' trees and hedges, but the heavy -rain camo right through before morning,- and -the men were pretty well wet through-be-fore they ,t>egan . the last stage of the march. This was. begun at 7.30,. and Trentham was reached at.11.30 a.m. ''lie Trentham Camp Band met the column at Upper Hutt and played them into Trentham, where they -ffero greeted with cheers bv' the men in camp. • The 1 Eighteenths' wore wet • through by that time, as heavy rain had fallen durinn- the whole of the. morning's inarch. Every preparation had been •made for their- incoming, They were r iven a hot meal and a ration of rum, ..and t-ho drying rooms. were going at full' blast in readiness to' dry w.et '"lothes. Owing to tlife .change in - the 'irogramme, due''to. the weatWer, there was' a slight .delay in tlie arrival of tlio baggago by rail. Under ordinary circumstances. this would not have been required until'to-day: This important part_ of tile soldiers' .equipment, in- ' chiding changes .of clothes and 'other comforts, .arrived in camp at 1.30.in tho afternoon. Very shortly afterwards the Eighteenths were comfortably settled down in Trentham.