THE DEFENCE FORCES

Otago Witness, Issue 2894, 1 September 1909, Page 14

THE DEFENCE FORCES

By SMtrfil.' .'' ' The Gazette of August 19 announces a3 follows:— "Capsain &.' O. Cberoey- appointed Assistant Adjutant-general for the Wellington military district, vice Major T. W M'Donald (transferred) ; James DickBom appointed, v 6 be Pay and Quartermaster, Otago Division Jv.Z-G.A.V., with rank of bon. lieutenant-; ,C*pt*in (acting major) J B. M'dymont, 4th Battalion 0.X.V., appointed major." The following members of the Dunedin Engineers have qualified for long servuo medals, and applications have been scut in to the department accordingly : — Sapper W. Dean, long and efficient eervkse \l6 .years) ; Lieutenant E. Lacey, colonial auxiliary forces -ned&l (20' years) ; Captain. George D. Roes, Volunteer decoration"^) years as an officer in the Volunteer Forces). Captain C. B. Morris, King's Rifles, Oamaru, has keen appointed acting-adju-tant of the 3rd Battalion O.R.V. ' Licutenamt D. Gillies takes command of the King's' Rifles. t^*. . The proposal to send an Otago team of riflemen to compete at the" N.S. W/Jubilec meeting in. October is quietly maturing. Jnvercargill and. Oamaru have both approved th-3 principle, <and arrangements foave been made to collect' subscriptions. The Mayor of krvemcargiil toot the matter up, with the result that it is proposed to collect something between £75 and £100 in Inrercargrll. The committee at Invercargill suggests that four men from that, city should be inshided m the team. It has r beeu decided by the Dunedin Committee" 4o invite InvereargiH to nominate a- "member of The Selection Committee. As sooa its this member can attend in Dunedin the team wjH be picked — probably in a few • days. Th« sale of tickets far the Dunedin, Dramatic' Club's " Dandy Dick " season has been gratifying. Here comes a letter all the way from Dannevirke:— "De*r Sentry,— l "have seen by the papers that Otago and Southland are sending a riHe team to Sydney. Having been for many, years a Volunteer, first in Southland, and for the last two years in Dannevirke, and hiving followed up the shooting from one end of New Zealand to the other, J thought I would let you see what sort of a team I could pick. Of course, 1 am picking a team on past reputation. There aare young shots who have come away this last few years; but shooting on a range tike Randwick, with its corkscrew winds, I would like to piok men who have liad experience on different ranges throughout New Zealand. My selection is a 6 follows:— Lieut. M'Kenzie, Queen's Rifles, Oamaru; Corp- Ayson, Murihuku M. R; Corp. Munro, Murihuku M. X. ; Sergt. Dewar, Oamaru Rifles; Bin-gt. Manley, Oaanaru Rifles; Sergt. Bradley, North Dunedin Rifles; Pte. Dippie Koith Dunodiu Rifles; Sergt. Mills, Dunedm City Guard*; Sergt. Clyde, Waikari Rifles; Sergt. M'Donaid, Dunedin Rifles; Pte. Morroscn, Dunedin Rifles; Gnr. J. Montgomery, Port dudmere Navals; .emergencies — Capt. Searle, Railway Pioneeis, .Dnnedin: Lieut. Onyley, Oamaxu ; Sergt. Wife, Southland mTV : I*seut. Snanks, Gore Rifles; Pte. W J Orunp, Green Island Rifles." Australia's team in the Empire Match ' for Caaots for Lord Roborts's trophy scored T^t r^osranune fcwr the Paunerston ' North tournament embraces M . competitions, including field artillery driving and section alarm, gun drill, teat-peggmg. sword and bayonet fighting, wrestling on ' horseback, heads and posts, * lemon-cuttine, '■ Llqyd-Liadsfcy, physical drill {New Zealand ' championship), ride and firing exercises, j r ? utß ,,. Inar chiug. ambulance competitions, signalling, field sketching, ' building field observatory, etc. A challenge shield, ' valued at £25, has been added as a points' pru» for infantry. The conditions are that ' it is to be won thrice successively or five j times nt internals before it becomes the ' sole property of any one company. I It had been intended that teams from ' the Second and Fourth Battalions, 0.R.V., • should enter for the military tournament at Paunerston North ou November 8 and 9. Last year passes were granted to the InvercargilJ City Guards. This year, how- ' ever, passes have been refused, the reply to ' the application beinc that railway passes could only be issued to corps residing in the district where the competition is to be held. The promoters of the tournament must have been undei «■ misapprehension with regard to the point, for it is announced in their programme that passes will be issued to ail bona fide competitors, and' that an endeavour will be -made to ■ obtain concessions for competitors travelling by steamer. - " j The Otago Boys' High School Defence i Cadets intend to have a very imposing and impratuve function in . connection with tie presentation of their colours. The probability is that the ceremony will be arranged for a date round about the time when his Excellency the Governor >ill be • in Dunedin to open the Dunedin competi- I ♦ions festival, the idea being to secure the j presence of vice-royalty. Meanwhile, the , Cadets are being practised in the ceremony , of trooping the colours. • I ■The result of the recent examination of non-com, officers and men of the Tuapeka ' Mounted Rifles for sergeants' certificates discloses a very creditable achievement. Out of 15 candidates 13 qualified for the sergeant's certificate, one for corporal's certificate, whilat one has yet to complete his practical test. This says a good deal for a mounted rile corps, when

I it is remembered that- to* attend parades I members of the Tuapeka Mounted' Bines come from districts as widely separated as [ Waitahuna, and Millar's Flat, i A clbss for non-coin, officers of the Qtago Hussars was held for one week, commencing on August 9. There was. a capital attendance, the average being 20. -The class was conducted by Staff-sergeant-major Burand the instruction proved of great value to those attending. The Maniototo Mounted Rifles were recently visited by Staff-sergeant-major Burgess for instructional purposes. Eicepf. in the case, of the Gimmerburn detachment, the musters were poor The first working parade in connection with the Local Officers' Training Corps j was held on Tuesday, -Aug. 24, when those j taking up infantry work were instructed j in squad drill by two non-commissioned officers from the R.N.Z.A. Lieutenuntcolotv°l Smyth and Captain Hickey were present," the former - briefly addressing the company. The muster represented capital' material, drawn mostly from the various high schools and, colleges in the Dominion. With the exception of five, all the members had previously undergone military training, aad the indications were that they would make very rapid progress in the work set for them The parade lasted from 7 p.m. till 9 p.m. Promotion to warrant officer rank has baen conferred upon Staff-sergeant-major Kibblewhite. The promotion is granted' as a reward fox five -years' service as Staffsergeant Instructor. The rank is something higher than sergeant, yet iower than commissioned rank. It entities the holder to be addressed as "sir," but not saluted, by all members of the defence forces below the rank of commissioned officer - - Although at , time of writing official in-timation-of the North Dunedin Rifles'- intention to disband* has not been received, the decision has been irrevocably made. In view of the disbanidmeni of the North Dun-edin Rifles, the announcement in the, . latent general orders of the appointment of Jesss Benfell to be acting-lieutenant reads strangely. The game orders announce the appointment of M. J. Gavin and A. Donrigan to be actiny-lieutenants in the Queenstown Rifles; the promotion of Lieutenant Mickie, R.N.Z.A., to be captain; the . resignation of Captain Flaus, of the InvercargUl City Guards, and Acting-lieu-tenant (pay and quartermaster) Gllmour, 2nd Regiment, O.M.R.V. i A well-deserved compliment was paid by Captain Ross to the Garrison Band at th« Dunedin Engineers' annual display in the Garrison Hall. The band, as usual, Added brightness to the gathering, and Captain Ross, in thanking the members, referred to the Garrison Band as the hardest worked Volunteer company in the district. Up till the 20th ult. the band had made no fewer than 10 public appearances foi last month. The services of the Gore High School Rifle Cadet Volunteers haye 1 been accepted, the company to be attached to the 2nd Battalion O.R.V. Application has been made for 60 carbines, but at present there are no oar bines in store, and the Cadets will have to use Martini-Enfield rifles until carbines can be obtained from England. - The following companies have not yet forwarded capitation rolls : —Southland ■ Mounted Rifles, Caversham Rifle Cadets, oad Hibernian Rifle Cadets. < i S*aff-sergeant-a>rmourer B. Buckley w transferred from" Chxistohurch to Dunedin for duty. 1 At the presentation of shooting prizes to the Dunedin Engineers and Dunedin Engineer Cadets, the .officer commanding t!je district {Lieutenant-colonel Smyth) congrarukted Captain Ross, on the steadiness iof the, men during -the inspection, a^d tho speaker* during the evening (Sir James and .Major Barclay, both commented upon the excellent appearance of the mem- ; bers of both companu on parade. The display of work throughout was most interest- ; ing, and should go a long w&y towards inducing young men to join the corps. ! It has been suggested thai the Noncommissioned Officer* ' Club might organise 1 a tug-of-war competition between the different companies, an entry fee to be charged, and a cup bought with the proceeds, the cup to be held by the winning company for one year. There is no doubt , such a competition would prove exceedingly , popular. It could be pulled off in the evening at the Garrison Hall with lathes securely fastened to prevent any damajre being done to the floor and a* the same fane to afford a foothold for the' competitors. The 4th Battalion Ota* o Rifle Volunteers finished up its week's course of instruction with a Battalion parade at Balolutna on Aug. 21, v.vhen a, tactical scheme was carried out. with the assistance of the School Cadets from Balclutha and Kaitangata under Major M'Elrea. The parade state showed a muster of 204,*" including 91 cadets. ° , The general idea was that a force (re- ' K{*e?*wi by the Volunteers under Capfc. : MrteheH) was marching on Baldutha from the south by the Rosebank road, and the l *xt hV*** »Jw Volunteers under Staff , S.M. Catto, defended the town. The de- I fence took up a position on a ridge ex- ) tending from Mr Malcolm's house on the right to some sheaf stacks on Mr W Guest's property on the fcfi. The attack- I mg force detailed Lieutenants Lane and Bryoe with two sections toehold the defenders left and centre and then launched the main attack, under Captains Moir and Inglis and Lieutenants Sinclair and Cap- i stick, against the extreme right of the defence, which they turned, causing a retirement on Balelutha. The whole move-

ment was well carried out, and was much enjoyed- -by all taking part, especially the boys. The class of instruction" for officers . - and non-coms, has been very successful, 25 to 30 being present each evening. The Kaitangata Cadets are evidently made of the right stuff. ~ Railway passes were refused them - for the battalion parade at JBalclufaha. on August 21, but .-(says a Clutha paper), having made up their minds to take part, a little thing like that could not be allowed to daunt them. Eacß boy paid his own fare to Stirling, and the company marched from there to Batclutha, went through a fairly hard afternoon's field work, and then marched back to Stirling and joined the train for home. The Kaitangaia Cadet Company has aJ strength of about .-44* and 42 were on parade. "Battery" writes as follows from Oamo.ru : — " On .Wednesday evening, 11th August, the feeble tolling of the firebell was the announcement of a call to arms to the local "Volunteers. It would have gone hard with -the inhabitants if the call had been a reality *Tnfd an attacking party had landed in the vicinity of the- town;' as ' the number of men that turned out was exceedingly small. Close on 80 men paraded within half an hour of the alarm being given. Lieutenant-colonel Headland, VJD., expressed himself as well pleased- wirh the smart turn-out, but greatly disappointed at - the small number on parade. Attached is the parade state: — Staff: Lieatenant-coonel Headland, V.D. Lieutenant-colonel Mahon, 0.D.. Major Forrester, Staff-major febblcwhite. Band: 1 bandmaster and 21 bandsmen. North Otago Mounted Rifles: 2 officers, 9 rank and file. Queen's Rifles: 2 officers, 9 rank and file. Oamaru- Rifles: 2 officers, 1 rank and" file. King's Rrflcs : Z officers, 14 rank and file. Royal Cadets: 2 officers, 18 rank and file."