THIRTEENTH REINFORCEMENTS.

Taranaki Daily News, 29 May 1916, Page 2

THIRTEENTH REINFORCEMENTS.

' —■• - \ ADDRESS BY COLONEL GIBBON. THE VALUE OF 'DISCIPLINE. The 13th Reinforcements paraded at Trcntham Camp at thy end of last week and were addressed by Colonel Gibbon, Chief of the General Staff. In his opening remarks, Colonel Gibbon mentioned that the Mounted Rifles had had a longer period of training than any Mounted Rifles draft that had gone oefore. They had obtained good results from the longer period of training, and he hoped even better results would be got from future drafts. The Artillery and the. Engineers had both done very well in camp. The Artillery had had more opportunity of carrying out practice with live shell than in the past, and he thought they would' benefit by it. The Engineers had had more opportunity for technical work, particularly the engineers of the Signal unit. The Infantry had had everything in their favor up to the time of the march over the Rimutaka. Unfortunately, in somo ways, they had then struck bad weather, but the experience was good for them, as the men's ability to' stand a certain amount of knocking about with proper spirit was tested. The musketry had again been very satisfactory. It beat all records, with the exception of that of the 12th, with the handicap of bad weather. The C Company had proved the best shooting company. These troops had made the best use ofHheir time, continued Colonel Gibbon, and when they got to the front it was hoped that they would show that they had profited by the training they had reecived in camp. Since the last' draft had gone away, it had been publicly announced that tiie New Zealaaders were in France. There the 13th Reinforcements would come under the observation not only of the remainder of the troops of the British Empire, but their Allies, the French. They would go to take part in the biggest struggle of all—one which would .probably decide the result of the war.' To enable them to take their part worthily, he would ask them to remember that discipline was more important than anything else. In camp their instructors had endeavored to inculcate some of the principles of discipline. They had done so with the definite object of being placed at the best possible advantage to defeat the enemy. He would remind them of General Birdwood's message to the Anzac troops on leaving Egypt for France. He referred to three qualities necessary to beat the enemy: Soldierly qualities, training and discipline, and the most important was discipline. Without discipline the best troops in the world would fail at the laat to achieve sue-' cess. Discipline was something that was not learnt in a minute. It was only engrained by constant striving and habit. In the retreat from Mons in the early part of the war, the anly thing that held the men together was their discipline—their training, but more particularly their discipline. It prevented the enemy from walking over them. It saved the retreat from degenerating into a rout. A retreat meant losses; a/rout meant being wiped out—a massacre. Colonel Gibbon went on to say that he wanted the 13th Reinforcements to make up their minds to get to the front. Large sums of money and much energy had been expended on their training, and.it was now up to them to get to the firing-line in France—or, he hoped, in Germany. There were several ways of falling out on the journey to the front—very simple methods. Taking a drink with a friend had frequently proved the way in which a soldier had been left behind on embarkation. Another cause of absence from the firingline was exposing oneself to avoidable disease through not carrying out the sanitary orders that were given. Men who had to be admitted to hospital through their own fault or neglect committed a crime. The hospitals were for the wounded, and not useless encumbrances in the shape of ''cold-footed" men. A point connected with discipline was saluting. The best-disciplined regiments could always be picked out by the way ir which their men saluted. It erst very little to salute a senior officer, and it was infinitely more trouble to return the salute. The French were very particular indeed about the salute, and strict orders had been issued by General .Tofl're on the subject. It was an outward sign of discipline. Finally, the Colonel remarked that in the past New Zealanders had won a great name at Gallipoli, and it rested with thcr-men now going forward to assist to; raise their name in France and Germany higher than it was raised even at Gallipoli. They had th.' reputation in Egypt of sending out each draft better than the preceding one, and he hoped that the men of the 13th Reinforcements would do everything possible to try to beat former records. He hoped they would have good luck on the voyage, and that they would have the best of fortune to join the remainder of the forces at the earliest possible date.