HOME FOR CHRISTMAS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 9 December 1940, Page 4

HOME FOR CHRISTMAS

TERRITORIALS IN CAMP. TRAINING PLANS SPEEDED UP. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) WELLINGTON, This Day. A rearrangement of the training programme to enable territorials now in camp to be returned to their homes before Christmas was announced last night by the Minister of Defence, Mr Jones. As mentioned in a previous Press statement, the units affected were called up for' three months’ training from October 1, and it was intended that they should remain in camp till December 28. Mr Jones said that the Government had given further consideration to the question of dispersing the units of the Territorial force now undergoing training in various camps throughout the Dominion before Christmas. It had been’ decided after careful investigation to rearrange the training programme to enable battalion and brigade exercises to be completed and ine men returned to their homes before Christmas. With this end in view it had qow been decided to speed up the final stages of the advanced field manoeuvres, and this training would finish on December 21. “There is a great deal of cleaning up, checking and handing into store, of camp and training equipment which has been in use for three months and which must be left in good order and condition for the use of other units which will enter camp early in January, and this will take the best part of two days to complete/’ said Mr Jones. “By arranging fo men who have the farthest to travel to leave camp on the night of December 22 or early on December 23 and those who live closer to follow later in the day on December 23, nearly all men will reach their homes that night, and all will be home for Christmas.”