TERRITORIAL TRAINING

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLI, Issue 1923, 7 January 1919, Page 3

TERRITORIAL TRAINING

STATEMENT BY THE MINISTER. The future training of the New Zealand Territorial Army formed the subject of a statement made by the Minister of Defence (Sir James Allen). “My mind is clear on the subject,’’ lie said, “but whet her (lie country is prepared to adopt the proposals is another - mailer. I have said before, and 1 repeal, now, that I can conceive no heller method of training our Territorials Ilian we could devise by profiling by the experience we have had with the training of men in our Expeditionary Force training camps. This experience proves that if we can get a man into camp at the age of about: 18, when lie should be coining into ttie Territorials, we could not only make him a decent soldier, hut we could turn out a civilian much boiler in health and physique ami more useful to the. community generally than ho otherwise would have been. I am strongly of opinion that Territorial (raining should begin with three or four months in camp, under thoroughly compel out instructors. 1 think, too, that physical drill should lie an especial feature of the training, ami that initialivc, resource, ami general alertness should he inculcaled by (lie same methods as we have employed in Ihe training of men for service abroml. There are also lessons to he learned in camp in hygiene ami cleanliness which are of immense importance to (lie community generally. And I am sure that the discipline they get in the camps would he good for men in (heir civil occupations. There is also the very valuable influence (hat would come from men of all classes of the community associating in camps, feeling (hat they are units of (In' nation preparing to defend the nation if necessary, and to equip themselves as better citizens in civilian life. T believe that this association oi men in camp at the beginning id" (her lives would break down a great many of the misunderstandings that exist today, and make for a belter respect of man for man. “With the (raining of the staff, of officers, and of troops in musketry and other branches, this would mean that one of our camps 11ere# would be occupied for most of tho year. Of course, we could not go on bringing up the South Island men here, and we should have to provide a camp at some suitable place in the South Island.”