3

8.—19

The places of these fifteen officers have been filled by the fifteen officers of the Imperial Army on temporary loan to the Dominion; and the training which they will have received at Home and in India will, I am sure, be of great value to the Dominion. (b.) A special camp of instruction is now in progress at Trentham for the new non-commis-sioned officers mentioned in paragraph 2 (c), and a special instructional battalion for a limited number of permanent and Territorial officers and non-commissioned officers has also been formed there. Our thanks are due to the Wellington Racing Club for their generosity in placing stabling and buildings at our disposal, free of charge. B. Staff College. Majors G. S. Richardson, New Zealand Staff Corps, and M. M. Gardner, Royal New Zealand Artillery, have been admitted to the Staff College, Camberley, England. These officers sat for the entrance examination last June. Further vacancies have been asked for at the Staff Colleges both at Camberley and at Quetta, India, for next year, which it is anticipated will be filled. 6. Royal Australian Military College. Six new Cadets have been sent to the Royal Australian Military College, which brings up the number of New Zealand Cadets at the College to sixteen. There were fifteen candidates this year, of whom nine failed in the entrance examination. Two of the original ten sent last year failed in their examinations at the end of the year, and have dropped a year. The position, therefore, is that we have eight in the second year of their course and eight in the first. Satisfactory reports of their progress and conduct have been received. 7. Appointments, Promotions, etc., of Territorial Officers. The following table gives a summary from 17th March, 1911, to 31st May, 1912 : — Territorials. Senior Cadets. First appointments .. . . . . 473 Appointed . . .. . . .. 426 Promotions . . .. . . . . 284 Resigned . . . . .. . . 22 Resignations . . .. . . 158 To Territorials . . .. . . 7 To Reserve .. .. .. .. 116 Deaths .. .. .. .. 1 To Retired List .. .. .. 97 Retired .. .. .. •• 23 To Unattached List (a) .. .: 8 To Unattached List (b) .. .. 8 Commissions cancelled . . .. 3 Deaths .. .. .. 4 Total .. .. .. 1,174 Total .. .. ..456 Territorials ... ... .. . . ... ... ... 1,174 Cadets ... ... ... ■ • ... ... ... 456 1,630 8. Courses of Instruction. Courses of instruction and tactical exercises for Territorial officers and non-commissioned officers have been held in all districts. A Staff tour for the Headquarters and District Staffs and senior Territorial officers was held under my direction in February. A special report on it has been issued. 9. Examination of Officers for Promotion. (a.) Officers of the Royal New Zealand Artillery and New Zealand Staff Corps. Arrangements have been made with the War Office for officers of the Royal New Zealand Artillery and New Zealand Staff Corps to take the same examination for promotion as officers of the Regular Army at Home. The first examination under this system was held last December, when twenty-one officers sat. llie following extract from the report issued by the War Office on the examination is most satisfactory : " It is gratifying to note that twenty-one officers of the New Zealand Military Forces attended the examination in subject (d). The work submitted was very creditable. This was the first examination at which officers of the New Zealand Permanent Military Forces have been examined in the papers set for officers of the British Regular Army." Twenty-four officers sat for the examination held last month under the same arrangements. (b.) Territorial Officers. The system of examining officers of the Territorial Force for promotion has been completely revised, and is now on a par with that of the examination of officers of the Territorial Force at Home. The card-index system has been introduced at Headquarters for the record of results of examinations. Reports on the examinations held in December, 1911, and March, 1912, have been prepared and issued for the guidance and instruction of officers sitting for future examinations; these should prove of great value to all officers.