PHASES OF MODERN WAR.

Taranaki Daily News, 23 July 1917, Page 2

PHASES OF MODERN WAR.

TRAINING OF NEW ZEALAX'DER-S. "Some Phases of Modern War" formed the subject of u lecture delivered at Auckland the other evening by Colonel K. W. Cummin", who recently returned to New Zealand on duty. The first portion of the lecture dealt with the use of gas in war, its composition, effects and range, and tho ■precautionary measures adopted to nullify its use. The speaker nicnlione ' that the gas had produced a fatal ell'eet at a distance of 9000 yards from the point of discharge. while- traces of it had been detected at a distance of 26,000 yards, both under conditions especially jfavorable to its use.

The second portion of the lecture dealt with the method of training in vogue at Sling and other camps, and the final course at the ibase camps in France. The lecturer explained that as soon as a reinforcement draft reached England the officers and non-commissioned officers were taken away from the men, and in some cases never saw them again. The men went round a regular circuit of instructors, spending an hour at a time with each one. The course, which lasted from a fortnight to three weeks, embraced nine sections, including 'bayonet fighting, physical drill, musketry, bombing, and gas drill. The instructors were all experts who had seen the practical side of the work at the front. Sling, camp, said the speaker, was regarded as one of the -best training camps in England. All the work done there was based upon the syllabus in vogue at the base training depots •• the Continent. Every man was requ; t pass a series of rigid tests before ■% drafted to the front. They were required to be passed as efficient 'by the respective instructors, to pass through chambers, to throw 'bombs, pass their musketry tests, and to do a I'7-mile route marsh in full equipment. Colonel Gumming had a fairly extended experience of Sling camp in the winter, with inches of snow on the ground. The arrangements of the camp, ho said, were such that the severity of the weather was not unduly felt, while the work was able to proceed uninterrupted. Nevertheless, in spite of such conditions, neither Trentham nor FeatheTßton would lose anything 'by comparison with feline or any other English camp as regarded living conditions. The course of training in New Zealand could not be compared with that in vogne in the Old Country, the conditins being ss very different.

Speaking of the New Zealanders as soldiers, the lecturer stated that the commandant of the central training depot in France, an Imperial staff officer who had men from all corners of the Empire under his command, said openly that he wished all the soldiers he had to train were New Zealanders. All the instructors at this camp were either New Zealanders or men from the Scottish re;.'' : cnt3.