NEW CAMPS

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20057, 2 October 1939, Page 11

NEW CAMPS

TRENTHAM SCENE HEALTH AND COMFORT SPEEDY CONSTRUCTION ABSENCE OF MUD By the encl of next week some 2000 officers and other ranks of the special military force for service within New Zealand or overseas will be in camp at Trentham under conditions that make every possible provision for their health, comfort, and recreation. Sealed roads, complete absence of mud, well-constructed, draught-free sleeping and eating quarters, and hot and cold showers arc some of the features ol the new military township now rapidly nearing completion.

Three weeks ago the site of the greater part of the camp was unbroken ground. A start on the buildings was made only a fortnight ago, and the fact that the new camp has been brought into existence in such a remarkably brief time is little short of a miracle, and is a tribute to the organisation and co-operation between the military authorities and the Public. Works Department who have carried out the work. The busy construction scene at the new camp, where nearly 500 carpenters, plumbers, bricklayers, and othei skilled tradesmen are working at top speed, has formed a background against which the officers and noncommissioned officers for the Central Military District Special Force Camp have begun to undergo intensive courses of instruction to assist them in training the recruits who will enter camp next week. Main Drafts Next Week

There are at present in camp 59 officers and ICO other ranks, principally non-commissioned officers who are making all preparations for the arrival of the main drafts which will reach camp from Wednesday onwards. Major F. L. Hunt, N.Z.S.C., is camp commandant, and Captain R. M. Haddow camp quartermaster. The commanders of the three sections into which the camp is divided are as follows: —No. 1 camp, Major F. S. Allen; No. 2 camn, Lieut.-Colonel F. S. Varnham, M.C.; No. 3 camp, Major S. T. Maxwell, N.Z.S.C.

The new camp occupies a large rectangular area at the southern end of the main group ot hutments. Some of the old huts are included but are being completely remodelled to bring them, up to the general standard of the whole camp.

There will be no mud in the new camp, and oven the heaviest rain will not leave water lying .about on the surface. At various points in the area pits have been dug down to loose shingle to allow rain-water to drain away. Some of the men will be housed in wood-floored tents, but before any of these floors were put down bulldozers removed all surface clay, and the area was packed many niches deep with loose shingle which will not hold water. As an additional precaution small sumps have been dug alongside each tent. For this purpose the shingle has been transported to the camp by lorry from a nearby quarry at the rate of nearly 1000 yards a day. Camps 1 and 2 occupy adjoining rectangular areas across the northern end of which lies Camp No. 3. At a central point in the whole camp one of the existing huts is being converted into offices to house camp headquarters. An officers’ mess, with kitchen and s,every attached, and officers’ sleeping quarters are provided in adjacent buildings, and the quartermaster’s store is also close by. Modern Mess Rooms

Separate mess room blocks have been erected for each of the three camps. The mess buildings for camps 1 and 2, wh.ch are entirely new structures, consist of two wings, one at cither end' of a central kitchen flanked by serveries. There is one building containing the officers’ and sergeants’ messes, and another for the men. The well-equipped kitchens, with their banks of cupboards, long benches, stainless steel sinks and bins, would delight the eye of any housewife. Hot-water installations are included in each mess building. Bath-houses containing hot and cold showers and other ablution buildings with rows of hand basins have been built at the southern end of each camp. Each of the three battalions also has a complete set of buildings for use as stores where all necessary equipment will be kept. Sanitary buildings of a new and improved type also have been provided. Where necessary for the comfort of the men the converted huts have been lined with wall-board and this material has been used to assist in making the interior of the mess rooms as pleasant as possible Freedom From Dust Needless to say adequate reading facilities have been provided throughout these well laid-out camps and there is even, in Camps 1 and 2, a pathway leading to each tent. All main roads are to be sealed and it is claimed that the whole camp will be free of dust. A post Office has been established in the camp, and, although it is at present housed in a marquee pending the erection of a permanent building, it is "equipped with modern facilities, even including a teleprinter for the rapid handling of telegraph messages. The postmaster is Mr. P. Coira, who has been transferred from Wellington South The Soldiers’ Club, operated by the Y.M.C.A., and which has been under the control of Mr. F. E. Chappell, M.M., since the latter part of the Great War, has already become the centre of social life for the men already in camp and its comfortable writing, reading, and biliiard rooms are busy scenes each night when the men arc off duty. Mr. Chappell said it is proposed to erect marquees in the neighbourhood of the new camp in a few days. No doubL they will later be replaced by permanent buildings. Further provision for the social life of the men will be made by other organisations which are shortly to commence operation in the camp. Intensive Training The officers and n.c.o.’s at present in camp are undergoing intensive instructional courses which keep them hard at it almost from daylight to dark, but several of them who were spoken to by a Post representative, said they did not inind the hard wm-.i involved at this stage because they realised how necessary it. was for them to have the necessary knowledge to train the men who would be under their control from next week onwards. Classes in every branch of military training aye proceeding at

various points on the extensive area near the camp and squads are also receiving instruction in physical training in the gymnasium. It was pointed out that the men who go into camp this time will live under conditions vastly better than existed at the beginning of the Great War when Trentham Camp was established. The valuable lessons learnt in the 1914-18 period have made if possible for camps to be designed and erected with the object of meeting every service condition likely to arise The approximate number of officers and" other ranks in each camp will be as follows:—Camp No. 1, 700; Camp No. 2, 740; Camp No. 3. 400.