THE REINFORCEMENTS.

Taranaki Daily News, 28 August 1918, Page 4

THE REINFORCEMENTS.

NEXT mo DRAFTS TO ASSEMBLE ON DUE DATES. j Tim Defence authorities and the Minister have been taking very careful I stock ,of the man-power problem during I the past week or two, with special reieretfw to, immediate and future action in the •calling up and despatch of reinforcements (says the ; 33<>nunion). There ftre.jnpre tlian men now under orders to go jjnto camp to. fill all drafts tl <!an ; be-required before, the end of the , year, Indeed, some hundreds of men have already been posted to the January draft, a draft which the authoi they may be drop, i; i As things have happened at the front, there nevsr has been need for the extra rbinforcemgnts ajjksd..;for at the beginning of, tlio, season: The New Zerijftiid Division h%s„Jiad t)» good for--tune, until,,the reefpt advance over the -Soiroie in- quiet Motors the fighting, *Ad their casualties haveJbeen 11-gh.t. The division's reserves .have, therefore," not been so heavily drawn upon as it was feared" they might (be - .Some of the extra reinforcements are among the men to bb taken into camp in the next two months. Those men will have to go into camp as arranged, but there may be reductions or postponements later. Everything depends on the luck of the Division in the next four weeks and on tbe amount of shipping that will be available for tho carriage of troops before the end of the year. It has already been stated that the shipping prospects show signs of improvement, tut it is not known yet whether there will be as many ships suitable for tho carriage of troops as may be required for the despatch of reinforcements to time-talble. In the uncertainty the authorities deem it to be their duty to have a supply of reinforcements in training in readiness for the fighting season next European summer. Men going into camp in February and later months cannot reach the fighting front until after August, 0119, and it is hoped that there mttr be no sjjhting to do after that,