DEFENCE TOPICS

Evening Star, Issue 22455, 28 September 1936, Page 7

DEFENCE TOPICS

QUARTERDECK AND PARADE GROUND [By Sam Browne.] THE GAZETTE The following notifications have been gazetted:— OTAGO MOUNTED RIFLES. The undermentioned second lieutenants to be lieutenants, dated August 24, 1936: —F. H. Fraser, H. A. S. Or bell, J. B. M‘Math. B. G- Porter. REGIMtNT OF NEW ZEALAND ARTILLERY. Lieutenant J. E. Green, 12th Field Battery, is transferred to the reserve of officers, class I. (b), R.D. 11. Dated August 29, 1936. OTAGO REGIMENT, Captain R. Morrison, Corps of New Zealand Engineers, is attached under the provisions of paragraph 141. o-eneral regulations, 1927, and is posted to the Ist Battalion. Dated August 26, 1936. ' . THE OTAGO REGIMENT WEEK-END BIVOUACS Several week-end bivouacs are planned for the various portions of the Otago Regiment. On October 24 members of C Company, drawn from Cen-. tral Otago, will assemble at Clyde and disperse on the following Monday. The bivouac will'be held in the motor camp and will be attended by men from the Clyde. Cromwell, Alexandra, and Naseby districts. Training will consist mainly of the firing of a full rifle and Lewis gun course and’ platoon tactics. B Company (Oamaru) will carry out ,a bivouac on the same days oti the property of Colonel J. Cowie Nicholls. Maheno. The syllabus will include field firing, anti-aircraft, rifle, and Lewis gun training and minor tactics. # The Dunedin portion of the regiment will bivouac at either Whare Flat or Outram, when the syllabus will follow the general lines of the last few years. EVENING PARADES. The Dunedin portion of the battalion will parade at the Drill Hall to-morrow night for the fortnightly parade. Driving drill, with two-horse teams was carried out by the transport section at Central Battery last Tuesday, and the section will parade at the Drill Hall to-morrow night. SENIOR OFFICERS’ COURSE. A course of instruction for senior officers will be held at Warrington from October 23 to October 29. Majors, lieutenant-colonels, and colonels of all arms in the southern command are eligible to attend. OTAGO MEDICAL COMPANY. A two-day bivouac will be held by 'the Otago University Medical Companynest month. The unit will undergo general medical training at the Drill Hall.

BRITAIN’S TERRITORIALS INCREASED TOTALS The intake of recruits in Great Britain has shown a satisfactory increase over 1935, as the figures for the first six months of the year, given below, will show:— No. of Recruits taken on strength:

It will be noticed that in March—i.e., before the bonus additions had been announced in the House of Commons, the 1936 figures had begun to show' an improvement over the figures of 1935. This reflected the existence of a more healthy feeling toward the Territorial Army in 1936 than existed in the previous year. , • WIVES IN UNIFORM WOMEN’S WORK AT SINGAPORE

Tired of' the endless round of bridge and tea parties in their restricted. “ colony,” 20 wives of resident Admiralty officials at the Singapore Naval Base ‘have formed a Women’s Anti-gas Brigade. The women’s homes are 16 miles away from Singapore, in the very centre of Britain’s closely-guarded fortress. Surrounded by tall iron fences.barbed' wire, and constant _ sentry patrols, these women spend their lives in the shadow of huge guns and armament stores. Recently they asked the Commodore of Naval Establishments (Commodore W. P. Mark-Wardlaw) to be allowed to “do their bit ” in the defence of the base. Permission was granted. Now the women have a special uniform—dark blue, with trousers, white collars and cuffs, and the lettering “ Naval Base ” in white on the armband. These uniforms give the brigade a maximum freedom of movement and conform to naval traditions of neatness and efficiency, but still, preserve an essential feminine grace. ■ ■ i •' The brigade performs regular gas mask and stretcher drill, and is attending classes in first aid. gac decontamination, and general emergency measures. An experimental “ gas tank ” is to be built shortly. The brigade captain is Mrs G. G- 'Sinclair, wife of the superintending civil engineer at the base. Commodore Mark-Wardlaw is requesting the Amiralty to give official recognition to the ■ brigade, which he describes as “ highly efficient.” Precautions against air attack and bombardment have occupied the attention of Singapore naval authorities for some time. Although there is no immediate danger, the women who share their husbands’ lives at the base realise their homes are in a potential danger area.

January 1935. ... 1,698 1936. 1,192 February ... 2,916 2,473 3,735 March ... . ... 3,605 April ... . ,.. 3,096 5,610 May. ' ... . ... 4,052 6,142 June ... . ,.. 2,856 4,393