REINFORCEMENTS.

Taranaki Daily News, 23 September 1915, Page 8

REINFORCEMENTS.

TO GO EARLIER THAN INTENDED. HEAVY CASUALTIES A Dili TIED; By Telegraph.—(Press Association. Wellington, Last Night. The Minister of Defence stated in the House to-day that the casualties at Gallipoli had teen very heavy during the last few weeks, and in response to requests from the Army Council rein; forcements Would be despatched earlier than was originally intended. The eighth and ninth reinforcements would be sent about six weeks earlier than proposed, and subsequent reinforcements would be brought forward every six weeks. The seventh reinforcements would go at the usual time, the eighth early in November, the ninth in the middle of January, instead of December and February respectively. large numtes of men were coming into camp in November, but there were barely sufficient men registered for the ninth reinforcements and the two new battalions ■that were being called up. Registration was good, but barely sufficient as far as infantry was concerned. It meant the calling up of 4(100 men for November, and it was anticipated that there would "be some difficulty so far as the tenth reinforcements were concerned. The Minister asked meatbers of the House and the public to stimulate recruiting as much as p-.'ssiWe.

TEN THOUSAND REGISTRATIONS NEEDED. (By Telegraph—Special to Daily News.) Wellington, Last Night, The suggestion of the Army Council that New Zealand should advance the dates for the departure of reinforcements drafts, in view of the heavy casualties in Gallipoli, came as a surprise to the Defence authorities, but of course there was only one reply to be made. The men will go forward, and the staff is busy already devising arrangements and readjustments, with the purpose of getting the best possible results from the reduced period of training. The Minister of Defence, in mentioning this matter this afternoon, indicated that the provision of equipment for the men several weeks earlier than had been anticipated was going to present some difficulty. The Minister for Munitions and Supplies (Hon."A. M. Myers) has the question in hand, however, and there is no reason to expect a hitch of any kind. The number of men under training at any given period will not be increased substantially, since the earlier departure of one force will make room for the earlier arrival of another batch of recruits. The hastening of the reinforcements by advancing the date of departure six weeks means, in effect, that the Dominion is going to make an extra contribution of about 3000 men. The recruiting problem has not reached an aoute stage, and the Minister for Defence is disposed to believe that the day when the Dominion will be hard pressed to secure the required number by voluntary enlistment is still far away, but the fact has to be faced that the margin is not now a largo one. Exact figures are not available, but your correspondent has good reason to believe that when the ninth reinforcements have been called up, three weeks hence, there will not be, at the present rate of recruiting, more than a few hundred registrations in hand, and very few of these will be infantrymen. There is a surplus of recruits for the mounted rifles, the artillery, and the engineers. The Dominion has to find some 4000 recruits before the beginning of November, and then be prepared with a similar number at the beginning of January. Allowing for medical rejection*, the Defence authorities require at least 10,000 registrations during the next three months.