DOMINION'S PART.

Taranaki Daily News, 31 March 1916, Page 5

DOMINION'S PART.

THE ELEVENTHS. OFFICERS IN COMMAND. By Telegraph.—Press Association. Wellington, Yesterday. In the appointments of officers to'the Eleventh Reinforcements the Governor has approved the following:— • In command, Major Alexander G. McKonzic, 3rd (Auckland) Mounted Rifles; staff officer, Captain Frank Hudson, N.Z. Staff Corps; infantry captain, . James Arthur Shand. STIFFENING UP. E\ T D OF THE HOLIDAY. (From Our Own Correspondent.)

Wellington, March .29. A report that the New Zealand Division has left Egypt for one of the fighting fronts, either in the Balkans or France, has been persistent during the last few days. There is no official backing for the statement at all, and it may prove to be without foundation. But certain indications suggest that the New Zealanders have about reached the end of their holiday. The Division must by this time lie in fine condition. The three infantry brigades are at full strength, and in spite of the use of accumulated reinforcements to fill the tlnrd brigade, there is a reserve of reinforcements in hand. iProbably the strength of this reserve is substantial. The Mounted Rifle Brigade is also at full strength and something over, and the various details have been completed. It is understood that some, at any rate, of the extra guns promised by the Imperial authorities have reached Egypt, and the formation of additional batteries has proceeded. The new batteries are manned by reinforcements with a stiffening of experienced men.

MEN, NOT FIGURES. ' Tho use of figures is discouraged by the military authorities when forces at tho front are being discussed, but any New Zcalander who has kept count of tho reinforcements and the extra units can figure the position for himself. Since the- main body of some 0000 men left New Zealand, over 25,000 men have been sent after it. About 3000 have come back to New Zealand, and there are the fallen and the men still in hospitals in Egypt, Malta, and England to be reckoned. When next the New Zealand force goes into action it will be immensely more formidable in numbers, hitting power, and experience, than it was when it landed on Gallipoli nearly a year ago. INFANTRY WANTED. One result of the formation of a New Zealand Infantry Division and the rearrangement of the reinforcements lias been a substantial decline in the demand for mounted reinforcements. This is not a mounted men's war, and the figures are reflecting that fact. The Defence Department has at present in camp a very large body of mounted reinforcements, and it has become obviou3 that under the new conditions the branch is over supplied. The Chief of the General Stall', therefore, has asked the mounted men now in training if they are willing to place themselves in the hands of the Staff for use in whatever branch of the service may require them. Xo announcement regarding the response to this request has yet been made, but it is understood that when Colonel Gibbon addresses the men of the 11th Reinforcements to-morrow he will be able to report a result that does every credit to the loyalty of the men concerned. It is no small sacrifice for any mounted man to take off his spurs and give up his horse. ~ OVERCROWDED BRANCHES. The example of the men in camp ought to mean something to the recruits, who are still showing a disposition to crowd into the branches where they are wanted least. There are registered men waiting to get into the artillery, and likely to wait for months longer before their turn ig reached, while at the same time the Defence authorities are reporting actual shortages in the infantry. The sam e remark" applies to some other branches, notably tho ambulance. To put the matter bluntly, the man who enlists now for aji overcrowded branch while infantry shortages exist, is not doing all his duty. He is not going where ho is really wanted. A rumor has been in circulation today, by the way, to the effect that the Rifle Brigade and the 9th Reinforcements had been in action and had suffered numerous casualties. No suggestion of this kind has reached the Government, and it is unlikely in the extreme that any private individual would get first information of an event of the kind. PROMOTIONS. ' The provision of officers for the new units created in connection with the formation of tho New Zealand Division at the front has provided avenues of promotion for many members of the Expeditionary Forces. Referring to this matter yesterday, the Minister for Defence (Hon. J. Allen) said that no change was being made in the number cf officers sent with reinforcements from New Zealand. These were nearly all junior officers now. The vacant places due to the formation of the Division , were being filled at the front, and the arrangement included the scattering of experienced officers throughout the Division, so that tho new brigade might have the advantage of their direction.