MODERN CRUSADERS

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3161, 13 August 1917, Page 6

MODERN CRUSADERS

NEW ZEALAND MOUNTED BRIGADE FROM FEATHERSTON TO PALESTINE (By Lawson.) They're riding north through Palestine, And, by the sands of Galilee, Their nodding bit-bars dully shine Through mists of desert and of sea. Where bold Crusaders rodo long since. These bolder men from southern lands Bide fearlessly, each one a prince, AVith fates of Empires, in his hand. Four men of tho New Zealand Mounted Brigade, patrolling on a desert south of Gaza, came upon a small party of armed Bedouins, gathered in a wady, or depression in the ground between rolling sandhills. The Bedouins had not seen the troopers. It was the patrol's most important duty that they should not be seen. Hardy men they were, and cool as iron. Two of theni rode to the right. There, in a hollow, tlioy left their horses, tied head to tail, so that the animals if they moved could oniy do so within a small circle. Then the riders crawled to tho rise in the desert, from which they could watch tho Arabs. A third trooper circled away to the left, wliilo the fourth remained ready to ride away and draw tho enemy's fire should tho patrol bo discovered. In that case tho Arabs who pursuedj the fleeinj horseman would have had to pass through rifle firo from both flanks. But the Bedouins, evidently convinced of their safety, were too busy to notice tho patrol. So the third trooper—he on the extreme left—rode away to .report The others would keep tho "enemy under observation till a squadron of tho Mounted Brigade, that lay to the southward, came. They did their work well, this patrol, and they learned how to do it at Featherston. It i 9 a far cry from Featherston to Palestine, but no wider gulf separates the two places than separates the mounted civilian from the mounted soldier.' Chalk and cheese, as a comparison, ■ does not adequately represent tho vast difference that is bridged, in part, by twenty weeks of training at Featherston, and, further, bv weeks of hardening in the deserts of llgypt. Not till theso processes are completed aTe the troops fitted to serve with the Brigade.

All Picked Men They are all picked men, these modern Crusaders, and, like the infantry, they are trained in two classes—as n.c.o.'s and as troopers —the n.c.o.'s being: selected from recruits, and, with the rank of probational corporals, put through a 12weeks' oourse of training. The first five weeks ate devoted to dismounted drill. The remainder of the time is occupied bv mounted work, and the purpose of it all is to train theso picked men to take charge of troops—not only in the field, in the distant future, but in the camp, -here and now. Tho staff sergeants-major train the n.c.o.'s first; but only the n.c.O.'a train tho men, from the time thej; come in as recruits until they join their brigade. Therefore the n.c.o.'s have to make good use of their time if they wish to qualify. Every month about the men are selected to be n.c.o.'s, and of these, ten are chosen. The remainder go into the ranks of the next draft of mounted reinforcements that is to sail for the front. There are always seven or more drafts of Mounted Rifles i" various stages of training at Featherston Camp.

An Elite Corps. Not every man who longs for the creak of a saddle between his knees and the weight .of a rifle-butt on his thigh can belong to what is virtually New Zealand's cavalry. In the great measure that is what the Mounted Bides are. Not only are they a mobile force which does scouts' work; more than once they have manoeuvred and played tho grim g»mo as cavalry. To be admitted as a trooper, a recruit must be able to ride—that is the first essential. _ And riding does not mean the mere ability to sit on a horse and steer .it. A man must "collect his liorso when he mounts; it must become, at once, part and parcel of him. Th® keen eyes of the Chief Instructor and his staff—all men who have seen active service—quickly sort out the fit and the unfit. Having found approval in their critical eyes, the trooper begins to learn the art of equitation, or riding, from tno military point of view. The men who are chosen are usually country men, who are intelligent and "ood riders, who are used to the open air and distances, and jvho know how to look after their horses, which is the best proof of horsemanship. They have, first of 1 all, to drop their civilian outlook upon life. Henceforth, to tako one phase of their worlc, the countryside must be regarded as a soldier regards it. What cover it offers, how to tako advantage ot folds in the landscape, how to move and mako use of ground, and how to approach a specific position. . In selecting men" for the Mounted Kiiles, preference is given to those who are light-weights, who are 6trong, and who have plenty of initiative. Troopers, as well as officers, must be able to thins and net at tho gallop—on active service they are always called upon to do theso things. For this reason, and others, ™lo is the game. most favoured as a pastime for mounted troops. One of tho other reasons is that it teaches a man to play for his side, and not for individual glory. Man for man, the mounted brigades are regarded, as equal to the best troops in the British Armj for intelligence and boldness of action. Tho first seven weeks of the mounted soldiers' training at Feathersou Camp are devoted to the drill which teaches discipline—the discipline that is so necessary in order to save confusion. When mounted troops enter a ™ne swept 1» nun or rifle fire, the presence of the ses makes confusion more like y. . >-o the drill for discipline is rigidly imparted. Moreover, -all the drill that is afterwai^s Thpv have carried n\en of uianj aratts, and tliev Inioiv their drill. But a man must not learn his drill from his horse; lin must be taught it first afoot. _ I l oop and squadron drill are learned m this f'Million. Afterwards v the troops .are mounted, and are taken by thoir n.c.o. s through the of mounted rifles tiainiiv,. elude the instruction m the use of the for patrol work.

Work of Patrols. Tii« cnnaHron is divided into .small "roups, the objects being the ° the position of the enemy and the best w-ly to "et to that position. Reports of such observations have to be made m clear and condensed form, by men a 1 as officers. These mounted patiols ire the eyes and ears of the a rl ">'- ?iAtraining comes in the thirteenth, fourteenth, "fifteenth, and si:rteqinth weeks; from that time till tin. end 01 h£r training 'in Now Zealand, the nf rifles ni tVio ?L twenty weeks of training is com■nleted they are ready to undertake these s£rs>4r squadrons move out of camp mobile force. -