Business Of Turning Civilian Into Soldier Is Complicated

Taranaki Daily News, 25 August 1942, Page 4

Business Of Turning Civilian Into Soldier Is Complicated

Quartermaster's job in modern N.Z. camp. Feed them well, house them well, clothe them well — -those are the three basic essentials in the complicated business of turning a civilian into a soldier. That is the foundation upon which training is built up in the Dor.iinion's largest inland camp, and in their capacity of universal providers it is the daily job of the camp quartermaster and his staff to ensure that every one of the thousands of soldiers in camp is properly fed, quartered and outfitted, on the principle that a soldier with a grouch is poor training material. In the business of war this army establishment represents an investment of hundreds of thousands of pounds in construction alone, and the maintenance of its material assets at peak efficiency is in the hands of the camp quartermaster, working in conjunction with the Public Works Department — buildings, roadways, power plant, water supply, sewerage system, fire-fighting service, and numerous minor details. Many more thousands of pounds are involved in the daily turn-over of food and supplies. and though the final distribution is made progressively through unit quartermaster's stores, footh the initial and final responsibility for efficient and equitabte disbursement is the camp quartermaster's. In this military municipality, largely self-contained because of its isolation, the quartermaster's branch takes over the new recruit as soon as he has been checked into camp. Most drafts, up to a thousand at a time, arrive at night, and the first maxim, "feed 'em well," is applied at once by the provision of a hot meal in the mess room. Quartering has already been worked out, and the newcomers file out from their first army meal to their huts under the guidance of non-commissioned officers. Each man's place has been marked, and on it is waiting his paillasse (which is army for mattress) and plus issue of blankets. A newly develooed- type of portable hut is rapidly replacing tentage in this camp, and the assembling of these is one of the jobs the camp quartermaster has in hand at present. Several hundred have already been erected, and shortly all tents except those used for special purposes will have been replacd. Thse huts are pre-fabricated in two sizes, one to hold two, and the other four men, and are a practical expression of the second quartermastering maxim. "house 'em well." In the huts the men have low wooden beds instead of the bare floor boards on which to put their bedding, and more space is available for equipment and personal bilongings than in the old style bell tent. Electric light is fitted in each hut, and the use of radio sets is permitted within reason. On the new recruit's first day in this

I camp he sheds his civilion guise and is fitted out with his army issue of clothing and equipment. "Clothe .'em well" is interpreted literally here. No effort is made to break records by putting as mapy men as possible through the clothing store in the shortest possible time, Ths idea is to give each man the best possible individual fit, so that there will not be a series of "change parades" later to replace hastily fitted clothing. Such changes not only involve loss of time, but are economically wasteful, because if clothing is worn and then has to be changed it becomes second-hand, and must be overhauled and fumigated before 'being put on issue again. This procedure is followed in all cases, for instance, when a man is discharged and hands back his equipment to the army, but by careful fitting in the first place much unnecessary reconditioning is avoided in the ordinary way. First item of army wear which the new recruit tries out are the socks, and he must wear the army issue while being fitted with his army boots. Because a man takes a certain size in civilian footwear that does not necessarily mean that his army size will be the same. Most men do not wear such heavyweight socks as the army provides, and most of them are not used to wearing heavy boots. Having got what they consider a fit, the men are sent outside in their new boots to run about in them as a final test. From the boot section the new recruits move down the long counter of the clothing store, gradually shedding their civilian clothes, and replacing them with army issue. First item handed over is a canvas kit bag, which is a man's suitcase, wardrobe, secretaire and general hold-all while he is in the army, and into it in succession go his cast-off civilian gear and the army clothing he does not don immediately. Having received his underwear, the new recruit moves on to receive his battledress, cap, hat, greatcoat and ground sheet, and at each section the fit is carefully checked. In battledresses 30 sizes are carried, a range sufficient to meet most of the vagaries of the human form, but should a man have one of those perverse figures which stock sizes can make no provision for he is measured, and a uniform is made specially for him. If only minor alterations to a standard size are needed to get a fit the work is done in the camp tailoring shop, another branch of the quartermaster's section. Having come into the clothing store a civilian, the army's new hand emerges at the other end in uniform. He is on the way to being made a soldier. Before he leaves the store his issue is checked under the supervision iof an officer of the unit to which he has been posted, and he signs for more than £20 worth of clothing and blangets. iBy the time the new recruit has received the rest of his gear— web, haversack, rifle, respirator, tin hat and the like — he has been debited with nearly £40 worth of material on his clothing and equipment card.