MILITARY TRAINING
AVAR MYTH EXPLODED
“FORGET ALL YOU LEARNT.” (Issued by National Defence League.) One often sees, quoted in newspapers throughout New Zealand the .statement that the first thing a recruit was told on entering the N.Z.E.F. training camp at Trenthnm was “Forget all you were taught in the Territorials”— the inference being that the. traininggiven in. the Territorial Force before he War was of little or no value.
Tins would be a grave indictment of the Territorial Force if it were not for the fact, now so much overlookd, that a recruit received similar advice at each, stage of his journey t-> the front line and in each phase of his training. At Sling he was ordered to forget everything he learnt at irputliam : at Eta pies he was informed that the methods used at Sling were nlrer.dv, but of date, while on his arrival in the * bin he had ininressed upon him the fact that this was “the W.v” m-d Oi-t his military education Wins HOW about to begitl.
‘‘ENTIRELY PSYCHOLOGICAL.’’
.Similarly at each of the above stages in his progress to the front the recruit’s training was divided into various subjects, each in the hands of a .specialist instructor. Naturally each specialist, perhaps imbued with an exaggerated idea of the value of lus own subject, impressed upon him its paramount importance to the exclusion of everythin" else.
Ti.ri difference of opinion in regard to the value c'f the various stages oF f raining and of the different weapons was, in short, entirely psychological. The plain truth was, of course, that these various stages in training, as exemplified by the passage through succeeding camps and the instruction in the handling of various weapons, wer eeqnally essential to produce the "mished article—the trained soldier. A further contributory factor to tne spreading of .this legend was the’natural superiority felt .bv the man nearest the enemy oyqr. all those who were birthcr a way. Thus, those in 'France 'oo’.-cfl down upon those in England, -md so onj until the last link in the "bain was'beached at the source of supnly—the Territorial, Force in New. Zealand. ‘•■lMh' lb./ TO REACH SAME STANDARD. Again'it has to lie remembered that Territorial training ill New Zealand during the Great War was 'handicapped by sb mally of the Permanent Staff and best Territorial ‘ officers and N.C.O’s having been already absorbed in the Expeditionary'r'Force and New Zealand training camps, so that the training given in the Territorials then suffered in proportion; also that Reinforcement drafts entering camp were composed of both Territorials and non-. Territorials who had reached the same standard of efficiency. Thus the part-ly-rtaVned Territorial, although that partial training was immensely valuable, had to begin again at the beginning, and by reason of his previous experience, by example and otherwise, helped his wholly-untrained neighbour to attain a standard of efficiency more rapidly. Indeed in the training camps the partially-trained Territorial could always be picked by the instructor by reason of the better way in which he carried out his work, arid thereby won his wav more quickly into the N.C.O. class. To him, in fact, the trailing camps were very much like advanced refresher courses—courses of instruction i mvliioh both officers and N.C.O’. in all armies of to-day., frequently inhilge, beginning again at the beginning and so freshening themselves up. It iis also important to appreciate Dmt. the scheme of training, as originally laid down for the Territorial Force in New. Zealand, was prescribed by no less an authority than the late Lord Kitchener himself, and that Field Srrvice Regulations, which governed the training of all New Zealand soldiers. Territorial Force and Expeditionary Force alike, were drafted by the late Field Marshal Earl Haig, and remained throughout the War the standard upon which all the British Armies at Home and overseas, were trained, CONCLUSIVE PROOF.
The value of the Territorial system of training up to 1914 and during the War, is proved conclusively by the record of the N.Z.E.F. from which it sprung. To-day the Territorial Force in New Zealand is largely officered and v .C.O.’d” by N.Z.E.F. officers and N C.O.’s who, with the remarkable adaptability of New Zealanders to learn, can be relied upon to produce, and do produce the efficiency required.
These being the . facts, the military qualification of those who dispute them may well be asked for.
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Hokitika Guardian, 3 July 1930, Page 2
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726MILITARY TRAINING Hokitika Guardian, 3 July 1930, Page 2
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