THE CALL TO WAR.

Taihape Daily Times, 18 February 1919, Page 5

THE CALL TO WAR.

HOW N.Z. RESPONDED. OFFICIAL DETAILS OF THE FORCES. WELLINGTON, Feb. 17 The ending of the war removes the veil of secrecy which has had to be maintained over the exact numbers of men comprising the different details of the Expeditionary Forces, ian'd other information that the public has had to do without, for the sake of the general interest. No time has ben lost by the Defence Department in preparing, under the direction of the Chief of the General Staff, Colonel C. M. Gibbon, full statements of the personnel, horses,, and transports of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force. There are nearly eighty pages of figures, including several graphs illustrating at a glance the chief features of the Dominion’s splendidly sustained effort in the great world struggle.

It is seen in this statement how r wise was the policy laid down early in the war, that the country should not rush every possible man into the field, but that it should steadily apply itself to the task of maintaining at full efficiency .the Expeditionary Force sent away during the second week of October, 1914, The policy was expressed clearly in a memorandum laid before the House of Eoprcscntatives in June, 1915, containing the words -which were prophetic, and which proved to be true: — “If at any time there may be a temporary surplus of recruits, great care is necessary before the popular cry to make an increased offer of fresh troops can bo acceded to. To put units into the field which waste away for want of reinforcements is entirely opposed to the principle laid down by the Imperial Government for the maintenance of our armies in the field. We have to prepare for a war which may last for three years. It would be an everlasting disgrace to New Zealand if, before the war came to an end she had to confess that she could not maintain her Expeditionary Force in the field. The honour of putting a large number of units into the field <at one time would bo forgotten in the failure to maintain them there. We must prepare for a long war, and if is essential that we should count the cost, and make sure that our resources of men .are organised in sucli a manner as to last to the finish.” And it is to the credit of New Zealand that it followed this policy of steady effort, for the end of the war saw our Expeditionary Force at full strength, some .additional units in existence and well reinforced, and almost a record number of men under training ir. the camps in New Zealand. The itepori shows that ovlor .12,500 men wore on the camp rolls when the .armistice was signed, of those 9.924 belonged to reinforcements, a total only once before reached viz., in March, 1917. The large total was due to a combination of circumstances, and sailings had been cancelled owing to influenza and also on account of peace prospects. Moreover, the November draft, mobilised early in the month, thus leading to an exceptional accumulation in camp of new recruits and trained soldiers. The total also includes men on leave who are retained on the camp rolls. This class w.as very numerous in ,1918 owing to the decisions of the Military Service Boards.

To take a general view of the figures before dealing with the details,

j we sec that New Zealand actually : put under arms 11.4 per cent, of its ! total population (counting men, wo- | men, and children),, and -thaltj sfo | per cent of the male population of military age went into camp. These figures include the men under training when the armistice was signed. The number of men who had embarked at that date was 100,444 (including 550 nurses), or 9.2 of the total population. RESERVES. These figures dispose of one point on which there has been a good deal of controversy of a one-sided description, one-sided because the people who considered they could have settled the question could only have done so by disclosing informa--tion which would have been of much value to the enemy. It relates to the reserve forces existing in England and France. Many people (asserted that a huge reserve of men was being built up in England at the cost of depleting New Zealand industries of man-power. Now it can be seen that the Reserve Group and detached Reserve units in England on November last totalled 8,765, but of these 716 were Category |B and iC. men | (unfit), 1,133 comprised the Permau- I ent Staff at Bling and other camps, j 3,140 were fresh arrivals not physically fit .after the long voyage, and with their advanced training yet to be undertaken. Eliminating these classes, there remained 3.770 men available for reinforcements— not an unduly large number when we call to mind that New Zealand casualties

at the Somme within weeks amounted to 4,210 and that the casualties at Passchendale in nine ! days’ fighting totalled 3,907. These casualties were exclusive of the ordinary wastage caused through sickness, etc. TRANSPORT TO EUROPE. Though many are in the secret, it is interesting to be able to publish even some years after the event, that the escort of ! ]the Main Body first reinforcements, which left Wellintgon in October, 1914, comprised H.M.s. Pyramus, H.M.s. Philomel, H.M.s. Psyche, .and the Japanese warship Ibuki The ten ships carrying troops reached Alexandria in 48 days Reinforcement drafts wore sent to Suez until after the Gallipoli campaign, w’heu the Transports proceeded to England, via Cape of Good Hope until the t-wenty-ninth reinforcement w r as dispatched, Then the Panama route -was used by the majority of the ships.

A summary of the official notes on the commission of the Expeditionary Force, including the history of the formation of new units, will appear in a subsequent article.