MILITARY DEFENCE.

King Country Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 331, 25 January 1911, Page 5

MILITARY DEFENCE.

COLONEL WOLFE EXPLAINS

Interviewed by a representative of the "Chronicle" Colonel Wolfe, the officer commanding the Auckland district; said the Auckland military district is sab-divided into four battalion groups or subdivisio is, each responsible for raising, amongst other troops, a battalion of infantry roughly 1000 strong. These battalion groups or sub-divisions will be further divided into four areas, to each of which an area officer will be appointed shortly. The group of w hichiiamilton will the be military centre, extends from Auckland (exclusive of Auckland proper, but including Onehunga). southward along the Main Trunk line to Taumarunui, westward to the coast and eastward to a line drawn from Miranda through Maungatautari, to Wairake, near Taupo. The infantry to form the battalion of this group will be drawn exclusively from those places along the railway line and surrounding districts. The re-ison for this is the strategic importance of vapid concentration. It will be easily seen that with Fraukton as the military centre of this important group, the troops will be able to concentrate there in the space of a few hours. The organisation of the battalion so far, said Colonel Wolfe, was not very far advanced. Major Barclay had been offered and had accepted command of the battalion, and the separate companies, each 120 strong, would, roughly speaking, be situated one at Onehunga, one at Penrose or Otahuhu, one at Frankton, two at Hamilton, one at Te Kuiti and one in the Taumarunui district. When the organisation of the infantry was well on its way steps would be taken to raise the remainder of the troops for which the group was responsible. These would consist of one battalion of field artillery (four guns), one signal company and possibly a quota of service troops, which would include such services as field ambulance, etc. "It must be mentioned," continued the speaker, "that the Act provides for a general training section and a territorial force. This renders all men from the age of IS to 25, excepting such men as were 21 before the passing of the Act, in addition to the junior and seniorcadets, liable for service under the general training section, the prescribed training for which will be 14 days- in camp and 12 half days, excepting artillery and engineering branches, in which the training will be II days in a training camp and 20 half day?, or the equivalent of 20 half days." It was not proposed to put members of the general training section into uniform at present. Members would be given rifles and squadded for training. The training in the territorial forces would each year be as prescribed. The service would be uniformed and the payment for this branch would range upwards from 4s per day per private. It would thus be seen that service in the territorials would be far more congenial and attractive to those coming forward, and the privilege had been granted of enrolment in the territorial forces in preference to the liability for service in the general training section. The Colonel pointed out that there was a universal obligation to be trained, and added that members of _ the general trainng section were liable at any time to be drafted into the territorial forces. There was every advantage to be gained, therefore, from enrolling in the first place in the latter section.

Colonel Wolfe, who is accompanied by Captain Allen, his staff officer, was in Taumarunui on Monday and Te Kuiti yesterday.