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The 1912 Cadets, six in number, were withdrawn in their third year, and, with one exception, are all serving in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force. The 1913 Cadets, three in number, will also be withdrawn before their full term is up. Before leaving Australia they are to attend a special war course of training. 18. Royal Military College, Sandhurst. The arrangement whereby His Excellency the Governor may nominate three New-Zealanders each half-year for entrance to Sandhurst, subject to their passing the Army Entrance Examination, has not been widely taken up. Three gentlemen who were successful in passing an examination for direct commissions in the Imperial Army at the outbreak of war, and who were found to be under age, have been admitted to the College. Only one New Zealand candidate sat for the Army Entrance Examination, and he failed. Two gentlemen have been nominated for the November examination, and of these one is to sit in England and the other in New Zealand. 19. Examination of Officers for Promotion. (a.) Officers of the Royal New Zealand Artillery and the Netv Zealand Staff Corps. In April one officer of the New Zealand Staff Corps presented himself for the examination for tactical fitness, Part I. He was successful. Six officers presented themselves for the examination for the rank of Major, and all passed. Six officers sat for the rank of Captain, of whom four passed, one failed in one subject, and one in two subjects. On the outbreak of war, all written examinations for promotion for officers of the above corps were cancelled. Since the inauguration of the scheme of universal training ninety-two officers have presented themselves for examination, and of this number seventy-five have passed, a percentage of 81-52. (b.) Territorial Officers. The August, 1914, examination was cancelled owing to work entailed by the raising of the Expeditionary Forces. In February, 1915, sixty-five officers sat for promotion, and of these thirty-five passed. Of the thirty who failed, twelve did so in one subject and eighteen in all subjects. The result of the practical examinations since the Ist June, 1914, is as follows : Six officers passed for Lieut.-Colonel; eleven officers passed for Major ; twenty-five officers passed for Captain ; 175 officers passed for Lieutenant. * The examination of Lieutenants for promotion to Captain is entirely written. Altogether since the inauguration of the scheme of universal training 585 officers have presented themselves for examination, and 350 passed—a percentage of 59-82. 20. Examination for First Commission in the Territorial Force. In the above examination, held in July, 1914, all candidates who presented themselves on the recommendation of Officers Commanding Districts were accepted as having passed. The actual examination was not held, owing to the work entailed by the war. In February, 1915, 110 non-commissioned officers presented themselves for examination. Forty-two were successful. This result is not quite satisfactory, but better results are hoped for in the future. The failures in arithmetic amounted to 35-43 per cent. 21. Staff Exercises and Courses of Instruction. Prior to the outbreak of war it had been the intention to hold a Dominion Staff exercise as usual, but owing to the majority of the Senior Staff Officers leaving the Dominion the project was abandoned. In December a short course of instruction was held at Trentham Camp for Officers Commanding Districts and their Staff Officers. Special attention was paid to methods of carrying out instructions by means of small exercises on the ground without troops. This course was productive of excellent results, inasmuch as the teaching was passed on at local courses held in the districts to the officers of the Territorial Force. In the districts, as was the case last year, a number of courses of instruction were held throughout the year. These proved of great assistance in the instruction of officers and noncommissioned officers of the Territorial Force and Senior Cadets. 22. Harbour Defences. There have been no changes in the armament of the forts during the past year. On the outbreak of war the schemes for the mobilization of the coast defences proved workable and productive of efficient results. 23. Surveys and Maps. During the year the topographical survey of the neighbourhood of Auckland was commenced. This map is being produced at a scale of x"Sst>ot> on * ne projection recommended by the International Congress for the Projection of an International Map, The. survey is based on trigonometrical points supplied by the Lands and Survey Department. The work in the field is being carried out by plane tabling on the same scale as that of the final map. Up to the present the military surveys in the Dominion have been carried out by taeheometric methods. The new system is proving to be very much more rapid and greatly cheaper. With further practice even better results are hoped for. The lack of a suitable topographical map of the Dominion is a serious handicap to training. It is hoped that, if the Auckland sheet now under preparation proves a success, money may be found to carry on the work on a larger scale than is at present possible. There is a growing

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