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RETURNED OFFICERS

PROBLEM OF THEIR FUTURE

MUCH EXPERIENCE MAY BE

WASTED

The problem of the disposal of the relurncd officer? who have had active service experience with the New Zealand Hxpeditionnry Force lias not yet been solved. It presents many difficulties, and the arrangement finally mado ; whatever form it takes, is bound to give rise to anomalies and complaints. Tho position to-day is that New Zealand's -supply of fully qualified officers of all ranks is far in excess of requirements as assessed on the peace establishment. Thousands of new - commissions have lieen Rranted during tho wax, and very many officers have gained rapid promotion in the field. The situation is complicated by the fact that all officers were granted their commissions in the Torrilorial Force, and wero then appointed to (lie Expeditionary Force. Promotion in the Expeditionary Force did not affect their status in the Territorial Force, and vice versn. An officer of junior rank in the Territorial Force may hold senior rank in the Bxpeditionnry Force. In fact, many officers of tho Expeditionary Force, including officers of high rank, are noncommissioned . officers of the Territorial Foree. The last issue of New Zealand General Orders jmentions, for example, thht "Battery Serprennt-Major , D.5.0.. M.C.," has been awarded the Territorial Long Service Medal. This ser-Kennt-major won his Distinguished Service Order and his Military Cross as a senior officer of tho Expeditionary Force.

The provisional instructions for the posting of returned officers provide for the creation of a temporary, reserve of officers. If a returned officer can be found a place in tho Territorial Force or the Permanent Staff at a rank the same or nearly the same as his Expeditionary Force rank, he is posted accordingly. If such a place is not available ho may be received back into the Territorial Force at his original rank, while being posted to the Temporary Peserve at his active-service Tank; or he may be posted to the Temporary Reserve without beirnj repostetl to the Territorial Force, The Defence Department, it should bo understood, has no obligation to find employment for all returned officers; but it has to find them all places in the Army List, and naturally each officer wants to retain in that list the rank he gained in the field. How to do justice to all officers within tho limits of tho peace establishment, and how to adjust differences between Territorial rank and Expeditionary Force rank, are two of the ' problems to be scived.

Th" officers of the Main Body consisted of Imperial officer? oil loan to New Zealand, New Zealand Staff officers, and officers of the Royal New Zealand -Artillery. Territorial Force, and Senior Cadets. They were appointed for foreign service with such rank as was fixed by the Commandant of .the New Zealand Forces. The supply of officers was far in excess of requirements at that stage, and competition was keen, particularly anions Territorial officers. A fact to be remembered is that officers of the Staff Corps, and tho TC-.N.Z.A. wero not permitted to volunteer for service abroad. They had the stains of regular soldiers, liable for service in or out of New Zealand at the discretion of the Commandant, and they were simply assigned duty at the points where they wero required. Pome of t,heni did not get. out of New Zealand at all during the war, owing to duties on the Staff or in the training camps, though an effort, was made to sive each, of these officers a share of active service.

After Ihe Expeditionary Force had been, on service for a year or. more, the authorities recognised that non-commis-sioned officers and men who ,had served in the,, field should be given opportunity to secure commissions. Some of these men were appointed direct to commiseioned rank by the General Officer Comniandinu the Expeditionary Force. Others were returned to New Zealand for additional training and dispatch as second lieutenants with later reinforcement drafts. Later it was .found desirable that'some, commissions should be allotted''to non-commissioned officers' in training in the New Zealand' camps. By this tiiuii nearly alt the fit available iunior officers of the Territorial Force and Senior Cadets had beon absorbed in Expeditionary Force. The training of iunjor orfieers, drawn from tho 1-aw material of the camps, was an important part of the work performed at Trcnthani and Featherston in 1916 and 1917, and the second lieutenants produced in this way acquitted themselves well in- the field, and in many cases secured promotion.

Great difficulty was'experienced at one stage, it will be remembered, in finding places for Territorial oflicers of field rank. The officers sent forward with reinforcements were principally second lieutenants. When vacancies for officers of higher rank arose in the Expeditionary Force they were filled by promotion, and the arrival of senior officers, without active service experience, from New- Zealand created difficulties that the authorities wero anxious to avoid. Some officers with the rank of captain and upwards accepted appointment us second lieutenants in tho. Expeditionary Force, and 'served at tho front. Others, for various reasons, did not accept such appointment!-, and wore subsequently called into camp or drawn in the ballots. The question of whether or not these officers could he forced to serve as privates or non-commis-sioned oificers abroad was settled by a Supreme Court judgment, which confirmed the official view that the fepeditionarv Force was ,1 separate service. A few Territorial officers, drawn in the ballot, proceeded to camp as privates, but this was not allowed to affect their status as commissioned officers of the Territorial Forco.-

General Headquarters carried its point respecting the enlistment of officers, but as a mutter of fact (he ruling of the Supreme Court was not applied nt all harshly. About the middle of 1918 tlicro wero some seventy Territorial officers, passed fit for service abroad, awaiting disposal. . They were taken into camp for training, and it was announced that officers who could not bo provided with commisijons in the reinforcements would bo sent a way as non-commissioned officers. But this ruling wan not applied compiilsOTily. Some of these officers were absorbed in reinforcement drafts, but many of them were still awaiting disposal when the armistice was signed, ihc point thus raised will require, to receive consideration in the future organisation of New Zealand's Army.

If is highly dosirnblc I hat during the next ten years (lie Territorial JFonio and Iho Senior Cadets should bo oiiicurccl us far possible by men who had commissioned rank in the Expeditionary Force. ]iy this means -the .experience*acquired at thfi front can be brouglil: to boar upon the training of New Zealand's future soldiers and at Ihe snnio time rho splon;'id traditions that huvo been built up around the various regiments can be preserved. Jhe organisation of the Expeditionary iorce Ravo every regiment its representation in ilie field, and tho returned officers can help to impart to the ji.uths knowledge of what their regiments" stand for. This arrangement will involve the transfer to Hie resorve of many Territorial officers who have not hail -lotive service experience, but there cannot be many objections urged against thic course, particularly as tho active positions available will provide for only a enmll proportion of the Expeditionary Force officers. It is fortunate, from one point of view, that many of the returned officers have no wish to bo posted to Territorial units. They are. content to doff (heir uniforms for good and all_

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19190526.2.45

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 206, 26 May 1919, Page 6

Word count
Tapeke kupu
1,236

RETURNED OFFICERS Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 206, 26 May 1919, Page 6

RETURNED OFFICERS Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 206, 26 May 1919, Page 6

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