SCOTTISH REGIMENT IN NEW ZEALAND

Dominion, Volume 32, Issue 153, 24 March 1939, Page 10

SCOTTISH REGIMENT IN NEW ZEALAND

Formation of Wellington Company

PROPOSAL MEETING WITH ENTHUSIASM

Enthusiasm for the proposed formation of the Wellington Company of the New Zealand Scottish Regiment was shown when the provisional committee of the Wellington 'branch of the New Zealand Scottish Regimental Association met recently. The necessity for paying over the association’s guarantee before the Government would place the order for the regimental kilt was stressed by the chairman, Mr. J. G. MacKeuzie, and it was decided to expedite the appeal for funds. A personal canvas is to be made of -people known to be sympathetic to the movement. It was reported after the meeting that the association hoped that the response to the appeal would be sufficient to cover the expense of promoting and equipping a full pipe band to be attached to the regiment, without which no Scottish kilted regiment is complete. The draft constitution and rules were approved, and are to be brought for approval before the next general meeting, which it is proposed to hold shortly after Easter.

In the meantime, it is stated, the committee’s proposal to form a regimental association, with delegates from Auckland, Christchurch, and Dunedin, had been enthusiastically endorsed by the committees in those centres, and an early meeting of delegates is to be held in Wellington, when a deputation will wait on the Minister of Defence, Mr. Jones, for the pur-pose of urging the necessity for importing the kilt. It is considered that only a properlymanufactured kilt should be issued to the regiment. A sub-committee of five was appointed to meet the delegates on arrival, and subsequently hold meetings with a view to drawing up a regimental constitution so that all matters pertaining to the regiment may be dealt with in a united way. A preliminary parade of applicants for enlistment in the company was held in Buckle Street this week, when more than 100 attended. Only eight per cent, failed to pass army requirements, because of age and stature. Officers in attendance were enthusiastic with the type of applicant, and are requesting the association to augment this number as soon as possible.

The committee appeals to young men of Scottish extraction between the ages of IS and 25 to communicate with the Area Officer, Buckle Street, where enrolment forms and other details, will be supplied. It is hoped that the officers of the company will be gazetted this week, when final arrangements can be made for actual training to begin. The committee is striving to have the company fully equipped for the centennial celebrations, and a proposal will be made to the visiting delegates for the whole regiment to parade iu Wellington on this occasion.