BRITISH ARMY

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 455, 12 June 1937, Page 7

BRITISH ARMY

LUXURY BARRACKS

Homes From Home

Millions of pounds are. ito be spent on a building programme for he Army. Specially-designed barrecks architecturally superior to anything before attempted, are to replace obsolete accommodation >n : all, parts of the country. Designs which I saw show that the new model barracks will incorporate all the latest devices and provide amenities of which old soldiers never dreamed, writes the military correspondent of Ithe “Morning Post.” The policy of the War Office is to replace all obsole e and insanitary accommodation will more attractive exteriors and better-planned and more comfortable interiors. A ‘ soldiers’ home away from home” is the ideal, and the military authorities have gone la. long way to realise ili. “Crimean” Quarters. The building programme is an extensive one. There are quarters in existence which were built at the time of ths Crimean War. Comparatively few barracks have been built during the liadt half-century. Aldershot, Catterick, and Salisbury Plain, Colchester, and Chatham are among the more important placet l where the new model barracks are to be constructed. Quarters for two Hank battalions at Warminster will be the first of the “Sandhurst” type to be built. The plans were submitted to, and’ approved by, the Fine Arts Commission, and the advice of authorities interested in town-planning was sought. The War Office are determined that accommodation for troops must not be, as in -the past, ah eyesore. Barracks.' in future must be artistic as well as comfortable and practical. The tank buildings -at Warminster are to be constructed on land some two miles from the town on the Imber Road They are to cost, with adjoining officers’ quarters and homes for the married men, about £400,000. Scrubbing Abolished. Whalt will be of special interest to the soldier will be the arrangements made to reduce “housework.” Kitchens will be equipped with the latest labour-saving appliances. Peel- i ing potatoes and washing dishes have always been numbered among th j .! mosit unpleasant duties of ttTrack I life, and hard things have been said j about scrubbing floors. Potatoes will be peeled and dishs-s ■ washed by machinery, thus removing “groutes” from the soldiers’ 1 tiny l The flooring will be of wood and will be polished instead of scrubbed. Comfort wta-t- not the hallmark of the older* barracks. They were inadequately heated, and' warm water for shaving and washing was usually conspicuous by its absence. Hence, forth slippers land shower baths are to be installed and shaving water will be available in '.abundance. There will be large dining-rooms, a nd when the soldier is off duty he will find rest in sitting-rooms replete with writing materials and wire-lets. Helping the Sergeant. The status of the unmarried sergeant is to be raised. He will join the sergeants’ mess in much the same way a< the single officer is accommodated in the officers’ mess. Every effort is »to be made to give the surroundings a garden city appearance. There will be flower beidis, and a little further afield football, cricket, tennis, and hockey grounds will arise in pleasanjt surroundings Clatterick Camp, where -there arc still a large number of wooden .sheds serving as housing, is to be rebuilt on the “Sandhurst” principle. Eighty-year-old cavalry barracks at Alder, shot have been condemned and are to be replaced with accommodation tor mechanised cavalry. The Brighton artillery accommoation is to be modernised. So, too, are the Royal Engineer (Kitchener) barracks at Chatham. Other where replacements are to take place include Bovington, Lulworth (Dorset) Larkhill (Salisbury fPlain), B’ordon, and Streusall. New churches |are ; to be providedfor the camps at Shorn' ? liffie, Bordon, Bovington, aaflerick, and Edinburgh/

When the slump (now happily a thing of the past) hit the old Country the demand for what are called “luxury lines” slackened off a lot, but according to latest advices the cigar trade in England is now livelier than it has been for many a day. We Maorilanders are not so partial to cigars as they are at Home, and during the depression the trade in them dwindled away to nothing with us. But the demand for tobacco remained as keen as ever. More especially was this the case regarding our famous toasted brands —Cut Plug No. 10 (Bullshead) Cavendish, Navy Cut No. 3 (Bulldog) Riverhead Gold & Desert Gold. These are always wanted. When things are bad the smoker craves them to buck him up; when things are good he wants them just 'because things are good. There’s something about toasted that never fails to appeal to lovers of the weed, so sweet, is it, so fragrant, so soothing and comforting. But beware of imitations! They’re no good. No more like the real thing than chalk’s like cheese.