TRAINING SCHOOLS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 2 June 1942, Page 4

TRAINING SCHOOLS

EFFICIENCY OF NEW ZEALAND INSTRUCTORS WORK IN THE MIDDLE EAST. GILBERT AND SULLIVAN TOUCH. (N.Z.E.F. Official War Correspondent.) BEIRUT,' March 20. Tribute to the efficiency of the New Zealand soldier as an instructor in military matters is the fact that many New Zealanders hold key positions in the training schools of the Middle East. G.H.Q., Middle East, recently paid the New Zealanders another high compliment when it handed over the training of the recently mobilised Greeks to a New Zealand training staff. This week I visited several "of the training schools and I also watched the New Zealanders training the Greeks —an experience which had quite a Gilbert and Sullivan touch. Language difficulties led' to ‘all sorts of incredible complications, all very amusing for the onlooker but very exasperating for the training staff. The first school visited was'the Middle East School bf Hygiene where I 'discovered three New Zealand medical officers, Captain B. W. Grieve, formerly bf Auckland, Captain A. E. Ernstrom of Palmerston North,' and Captain D. P. Kennedy of 'Wellington. They were on a course conducted by a Rhodesian Major who, before the war, was a medical officer of health at Bulawayo. There were features about the course that would have 1 inspired Chick Sale to Write another “Specialist.” Malaria, rats rand fleas, the life cycle of mosquitoes, .bugs and debugging, anti-fly measures and general s’dhitatiOn’■in the field'are just a few-of the subjects covered in a varied but comprehensive syllabus. These courses are not' for medical officers alone but arc also cbiiducted for regimental Officers and other ranks.

Nearby is a training school for A.T.S. girls, a school of army cookery, a school of mechanics.' Everything the army has to teach is taught at these Middle East schools where highlytrained officer and N.C.O. instructors spend weeks in 'fitting specially selected officersand other ranks for their own specialised tasks within their regiments and units. When a course is completed the pupil goes back •to his unit to become the tutor. And so expert .knowledge is broadcast throughout the units of the British and Colonial troops in the Middle East.

NEW ZEALAND SITTING. Most colourful school in the area is the Middle East Weapon Training School known ; as “Mewls.” The' school is established -at one of General--Al-lenby’s headquarters of the last War, ' surrounded by glorious ■ green trees Ji and green fields, with sheep and ca’ttle grazing nearby as the -training of soldiers goes on. It is a typical Netv Zealand setting. iS Here I found several New Zealahdn ers—Captain R. T. Blair (Nelson), who is chief machine-gun instructor ‘for the Middle East. He is assisted ’'by Sergeant R. W. D. Roberts (Wanganui). Lieut. H. Macaskill (Wellington) was chief instructor of the grenade wing. His place has now been filled -by LTeut. _ P. A. Thorley (Whangarei). Sergeant " R. A. Latham (Lower Hutt) has''just relieved Sergeant Willis as a rifle instructor, and Sergeant W. A. ’D. Caldwell (Gisborne): is attabhed'To'the mortar wing. ' Under the shade of tall bluegums I 2 discovered machine-gun officers get1 ting a section of guns into position to support a theoretical attack. A young ’’ instructor Of the Royal Northumber- ' land Fusiliers, an expert in machine e gunnery, corrected their faults. The J gaily-coloured caps of famous English and Scottish regiments, the red shoulder tabs of South Africans, the sun2 downer hats of Australians, the dark skins of Indians and the 'unmistakable 1 peaked hats of New Zealanders could 2 be seen moving in the undergrowth as . the guns were slowly and silently = dragged up into position. RIVALRY &‘EAGERNESS. There followed criticism of the - methods used in getting the guns into - action —friendly, constructive criticism - from these officers of the British and .• Dominion forces. There was a touch 3 of rivalry but above all there was an I eagerness and a determination to learn I I which stood but as a challenge. , That day I had lunch in a messl room over which General Allenby - presided in those hectic days of the 3 Palestine campaign of the last 'war I when the New Zealand 'Mounted Rifles fought side by side with "the i Australians. i Late in the afternoon I found myself i at the Greek Army Headquarters. A , guard at the main control post, probr ably puzzled by my green war corresi pondent’s 1 tabs and . determined not to I make any mistake, presented arms • smartly. Another guard further,along t the road, seeing the ferhleaf of New Zealand bn my truck, gave the .“V” I sign. I Among the ranks of the Greeks there ■ is eagerness to learn rapidly and a de- ’ termination to get into action against the Hun. But there are all sorts of ‘ difficulties. Their war establishment - is similar to that of the French. They slope arms the French way, and their general organisation is along French lines which makes training confusing and difficult to handle. USE of interpreters: All training is carried out through interpreters. Every instructor has attached to him a Greek interpreter.’The system works reasonably well with verbal instructions, which can be • explained if there is any doubt, but it leads to ludicrous complications when written instructions are issued. A company of a battalion was translated by the Greeks as a limited liability company: It takes time and unlimited patience to give a lecture. Many of the young Greeks have lived all their lives in Egypt and know Arabic better than they know Greek. So nearly every lecture has to be translated in French, Arabic, English and -Greek. Commanding Officer of the 1 New Zealand Detachment, Royal Gi'ebk Army, is Major-J. A. Samson (Dtinedin) who before the war was commanding officer of the ' Ist -Battalion, Otago Regiment. His medical officer is-Major! G. Palmer, formerly assistant medical superintendent at Avondale Mental Hospital. Among other New • Zealanders attached to the Greeks are: Captains J. P. Sealy, H. M. Smith, -M. T. Dew, S. W. Parfait, L. J. ‘Froude, H. A. McAulay, M. P. .Chinchen, H. G. Curran, C. A. McDowell, E. G. i’Finlayson, R. C. Jones, A. G. Kinder. C. E. Graham, A. J. J. Trousdale, G. H. R. Fisher, G. C. Gaze and R. A. Boyle;