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4. TRAINING. (a) Regular Forces. Training at General Headquarters Training Depot has been continuous throughout the year. This depot is a school of instruction for regular personnel. A draft of fifty-seven recruits for the Royal New Zealand Air Force carried out elementary training from November to March, followed by a month's instruction in aero engines and rigging. Thirteen Non-commissioned Officers and Gunners of the R.N.Z.A. entered the depot in May to undergo a qualifying course for transfer to the N.Z. Permanent Staff as instructors. During the year twenty-one Regular Force recruits, who had completed training, were posted to the R.N.Z.A., and nine to the New Zealand Permanent Staff. The latter have been employed as assistant instructors with Air Force recruits and with the present draft of Army recruits. Apart from short courses, financial restrictions have limited combined instruction for the Regular Forces to the annual fourteen days' refresher course held in each Command. Attention was concentrated on the problems of local defence, particularly of the fortress areas. All tactical exercises studied dealt with this subject. The results were valuable, and will be used for wider study during the ensuing year. Tactical instruction included a " telephone battle " employing radio telephony. This advanced training was followed with great interest, particularly as it can be applied locally for winter exercises with Territorial Force Officers and N.C.O.s. (6) Territorial Force. There is little to add to the remarks of last year on this subject. Again, with few exceptions, attendances at annual camps were disappointing, and, while there were local difficulties due to the infantile-paralysis epidemic, the basic reasons for the small numbers undergoing annual training remain unchanged. In many cases shorter working-hours have made it more difficult for employers to release their staffs, and increased wages have widened the gap between the average man's civilian pay and the remuneration he receives while undergoing military training. Despite the handicaps of small numbers and limited training-equipment, valuable work was done by most units. This often dealt with actual problems which the unit might be called upon to carry out in war. The employment of motor transport in various trials is referred to elsewhere. It added an invigorating influence and a modern aspect to the training. In the Northern Command a brigade camp was held at Rotorua for the four infantry battalions. Although interrupted by bad weather, several brigade exercises were carried out, to the benefit of the commanders, staffs, and troops concerned. Both in preliminary instruction and during their annual camps, the majority of units in the Central Command concentrated on tactical exercises based on local defence. With the infantry, motor transport was utilized to advantage. A successful combined camp was held by Southern Command in Dunedin in May, 1937, for the Otago Mounted Rifles, the 12th Field Battery, the 14th Medium Battery, the Ist Battalions of the Otago and the Southland Regiments, and a detachment of the New Zealand Army Service Corps. During the camp tactical training was based on the defence of Dunedin against attack from the sea, culminating in a combined operation in which the R.N.Y.R. (Otago Division) and the R.N.Z.A.F. participated. The success of the exercise was partly due to the enthusiastic co-operation of radio amateur associations, broadcasting-stations, and post-offices, all of which assisted in providing a complete and efficient system of communication. The operation was followed with great interest by the general public, thus demonstrating the value of stimulating local interest in the practical work of the Territorial Force. Courses of instruction for Officers and N.C.O.s were again held without pay. Attendance was therefore often a matter of considerable sacrifice, which Territorials should not be asked to make. (c) Cadet Forces. The infantile-paralysis epidemic led to the cancellation of most courses of instruction for Cadet units, and to the curtailing of the general-training programme. New Zealand Cadets have always been noted for their rifle-shooting. Once again they performed well in the various competitions which are held throughout the Empire. 5. MECHANIZATION. Successful transportation in war has always been based on the efficient employment of civil resources. To-clay the Army is dependent on the motor industry for its mobility. There is an ample supply of commercial vehicles in New Zealand to equip all units of the Territorial Force with the additional cars and lorries required on mobilization. Some of these will need slight modification, which can be carried out locally.
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