ARMY ACTIVITY IN N.Z.

Southland Times, Issue 24824, 17 August 1942, Page 5

ARMY ACTIVITY IN N.Z.

BRIGADE AREA VISITED

The areas allocated to the various brigades throughout New Zealand were selected partly with regard to the need for defending the locality concerned and partly in accordance with the requirements of the general tactical scheme of organizing in both islands powerful highly mobile forces capable of rapid movement to any threatened part of the coast The Brigade Group visited for the purpose of this article is camped in one of the vital areas. of the Dominion. ' Its section of coastline on which a continuous, patrol is maintained contains many good beaches and sheltered bays that must be considered possible landing points. The military scene there is duplicated in other brigade areas throughout the country. Brgiade headquarters is situated in tne largest town in the area and the various units—infantry battalions, artillery, signals, engineers, field ambulance, and so on—recently moved into new hutted camps in the surrounding district. For obvious tactical reasons, apart from training convenience, the brigade strength' is not concentrated in one large camp; in each of the new establishments all buildings are well spaced and camouflaged to give the greatest possible protection against air attack. Although the camps now occupied by the Territorial Force provide reasonably comfortable living conditions—in the brigade area, for instance, the troops sleep in wooden huts and eat in permanent mess buildings—there is no fair basis for comparing them with the big permanent camps containing diversified recreational and other facilities. The Territorial Army Is now in the field at its battle stations, and the men are being trained and hardened under what are deliberately intended to be active service conditions. MOUNTED RIFLE UNIT

In the brigade area several hundred square miles of flat or undulating farm country and nearby ranges of hills form the brigade training ground. At any time of the day and frequently at night it is impossible to move far without encountering a body of troops engaged in some military task. The first of a two days’ visit to the area was spent by the writer, accompanied by Press photographers and a Government cine cameraman, on a general tour of the brigade’s field of operations. The first call was made at the headquarters of the Independent Mounted Rifle Unit in that district. I.M.R. formations are not part of divisional troops and in this instance are administered through the local brigade. I.M.R. Headquarters occupies an abandoned boarding-house in a small hamlet. The work that has been done to make the old building habitable and reasonably comfortable is yet another instance of how units similarly situated in “field” camps throughout the Dominion have shown resource and an ability to help themselves. Later the visitors were shown the horse lines in the shelter of a belt of trees. The O.C. was asked about his unit’s particular job in the general scheme. He nodded to the nearby hill country. "I rather think we will be looking after those hills,” he said. “There is much country about here that motor vehicles could not negotiate, but it would be no trouble to mounted troops. If anything did happen in this locality we would be able to cover that country with scouts and if necessary use our whole force for harassing tactics against the enemy.” The personnel of this unit are drawn largely from the surrounding district. Most of them are farmers with an intimate knowledge of the hills over which they may have to fight. Their mounts are a good class and include many splendid looking animals. Later in the afternoon one section displayed their prowess over hurdles. The personnel, many of them veterans of the last war mounted units, are keen and look fit for any job that might come their way. CROSSING OF RIVER We watched the Independent Mounted Rifle Unit on tactical exercises. An advance was staged across one of the Dominion’s large rivers. First came the advance guard through the swirling stream and then the remainder of the unit, squadron by squadiron. The O.C. watched the rear squadrons forging through the swift-flowing water up to the knees of the riders. “I think that would worry your armoured vehicles” he said with a smile. The horses also jumped hedges, climbed up and slithered down the sides of a steep spur, and finally permitted themselves to be photographed in a picturesque group of men and horses during a bivouac for lunch. A short run to another part of the area brought the visitors to the camp of an armoured fighting vehicle regiment. Some of the regiment’s fleet of vehicles were out on reconnaissance and the remainder were being used for instructional purposes at the camp. The regiment has its own recently constituted school of instruction staffed by personnel of the regiment who have attended a special instructor’s course at the New Zealand Armoured Fighting Vehicle School. When the present intensive course is completed all personnel will know how to operate their vehicles under war conditions and, what is equally important, how to keep them running. All drivers are required to have a complete knowledge of road maintenance. Repairs requiring workshop attention can be carried out by the Light Aid Detachment attached to the regiment.