Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 - 1933), Wednesday 26 March 1913, page 6


WITH THE FIELD ARTILLERY

CONCLUSION OF ROAD MARCH. THE CAMP AT TAMBOURINE. VISIT OF THE COMMANDANT.

PRAISE FOR REMOUNT DEPART-

MENT.

[From Our Special Representative.]

TAMBOURINE CAMP, March 25.

After the bivouac at Waterford on "fri-day, night the men were all content to be once again on the march, and a start was made early on Saturday morning. The rainy- conditions .would have tested the endurance of the veterans, but the trainees -braved all the inconveniences, and very few were the complaints. Indeed, to see these young fellows acting as drivers in the horse teams made one realise that in her youths Australia has much wonder-ful material upon which to build tho future great nation of the Pacific. One of the trainees who had consistently re-fused to put in the requisite number of drills, and who waa detained in barracks for ten days, finished his training at 3 p.m. on Thursday, and on Friday morn-

ing he was in his battery on the road to Tambourine, convinced that soldiering was not such a bad affair after all. The cheer-ful and willing way in which the boys have entered on their tasks bas pleased

the different officers, and time will as-suredly bring to the State of Queensland ideal artillery batteries.

The old hands of tho batteries (havo mate-rially assisted in this satisfactory state of affairs by their advice and conduct. After the batteries arrived at Waterford (just before 10 a.m.) the rain foil in tor-rents, and right through to the flat near the Albert River Bridge», Tour miles from camp, passing ¿howers were experienced. [The road waa heavy travelling, and the men, horses, and guns were 'bespattered with mud. What is known as Plunkett's Hill waa negotiated without serious hitch, "and (prior to 2 p.m. the brigado and the .transporta unspanned on Tambourine 'Flsit. Than "dixies" were boiled, and

"bully beef" and bread formed the rations. The horses were once again yoked into the gams, «nd in tho teeth of a heavy dovvnponr the last stage of the journey was entered upon. By 4.45 p.m. the guns had ' arrived at the site of the camp.

Reference has already been made to the fact of on advance party of fivo men from each battery having been sent out from Logan Village on Thursday. The drivers of the German avaggon transports saved a great deal of time by loading their Waggons before the arrival of the train. Tambourine was reached that night, «uid Friday and Saturday were Bpent in much arduous work in getting the camp laid out and tho tent« pitched. Thus it was that when the men and officers bad finished attending to the horses they wero enabled to wall: straight into their tents.. Staff Sergeant-majors Catchpole and White and Battery Sergeant-major Pope, with the advance party, were responsible for the food work. Tho site of the camp Is pnactioally the same as in former years, namely, on a slope overlooking the Albert River and Mundoolun Homestead, but the situation of the gun park has been altered, from the higher ground to the flat abutting the rivor. The officers' lines aro now situated on the rising ground towards the north. The site ia an ideal

one for a camp of training, for the con-stantly running Albert River provides

splendid drinking water, avQiile every day

the men can enjoy a good swim and a shower bath under the weir. Indeed, the trainees aro weil cared for, and they seem "fathered" by nil the officers and non-nommifeioned officers. Whon the troops arrived in camp the cooks had pre-pared a warm moal, and the hoya were not long in getting round it.

At night the quietness testified to the tired limbs of the soldiers. Besides the men of the three batteries, there arc de-tails of other corps in camp. The R.A.F.A. is under Lieutenant W. Sheldon. atad hi» non-commissioned officers ara

' Scrgeant-îMijor Doolan, Sergeant Oakey,

Saddler Sergeant Jansen. Fitter Sergeant Barlow, ana Farrior Sergeant Croft. They . have been busy making targets for the

actual ' firing practice, and it is expected that they will form the range rai ties. Muoh good work has boen .'done bv tho detail of the 2-itlv Army Service Corps, under Captain Madge, who has with him. Lieutenant Murray, Warrant Officer Blacklock, Company Sergeant-major Ward. . who was in command of the transport on ? tho forward march, S.M. Hawkins, and

eight others.

It is probable that a bullock will be slaughtered on the ground as an experi-ment. Thneo contractors are operating, Messrs. C. H. Edmunds, Jimboomba, meat and bread ; C. ~E. Smith, Brisbane, groceries ; and John Izatt, Brisbane, fodder. The chaff and corn are being con-veyed from Logan Village by means of bullock waggons, and when the gunB ar-rived in camp on Saturday there were Borne 9 or 10 tons in store, and two more heavy loads again arrived this afternoonBO that there is no probability of a short-age, as in somo previous camps. It is in. teresting to note the daily rations for the men-'ljlb. meat, fresh, or lib preserved moat, or lib. fish, ljlb. bread, joz. tea, 3oz. sugar, äoz. coffee, l/32oz. of pepper, Joz. salt, lib. potatoes, iib. mixed vege' tables, or 1/dlb. jam or 2oz. cheese.

For the horses the daily supply is 101b. ".chaff, 101b. of cracked maize for draught«

and 81b. for light horses, lib. bran and 81b." hay. Under the new system insti-tuted the Remount Department is now cue of the most important in the Defence 1 : scheme, and na far as the artillery is con

' cerned .Queensland has been apparently

well served. The way the horses were tamed, their quietness, and their splendid "condition test' iod to the loyal .'and- untiring laboura devoted

. by, .' JTarrier Sergeant Lucas and

his men. On every hand praise was bestowed on the quality and condition of ,thc horse flesh. The small staff of men ' 'has had to work 12 and more thoura a

day, but Farrier Sergeant Lucas ÍB one to . prove his qualifications. And this camp * should go a long way to convince

the authorities in Queensland that the remount department is of wonderful ser-vice. The farrier sergeant has eight men in camp with him, and ho has arranged his section of the Permanent Anny ¡servico Corps away from all other lines. Ho has facilities for treating the sick horses. Lieutenant Hore is the veterinary officer in charge.

A detail of the Second Army Medical Corps (field ambulance) is also in camp, under Captain Weedon, who has with him that splendïdly-qualified non-cammiEsioned officer, Staff Sergeant Compounder Staubwasser, and Sergeant Downer, Lieutenant W. H. Raymond, of the Royal Australian Engineers, baa had the assistance of Sap-per "Berwick, Who has dono great work. Sid pumpB have been installed to draw

e water from the river, whence it is carted to the lines. Watering troughs and pumps have been built for one of the retteries near the swamp, while ramps have been put' down to water the other . two batteries in the river. The parade

»tates 8%ow that in No.' 11 battery there. are D5 in camp out of a total 9!). Only one trainee is absent. In No. 12 battery

Hotter«* Friend.-Pedic Pomade deitror» head vermin, Ulla nit»; 1/, 2/, tl/6; with ult como, «4, more. W»tlcln« k Maclny, Briibane.»

8S arc present out of 97, five absentee» being trainees ; while in No. 17 89 are ii» camp out of 06, three absentees being trainees. Reference was made in a previ-ous article as to the numbers in the bat-teries being much under the regulation establishment, and the above figures amply prove the statement.

Captain F. O'Mahoney, who is brigade commander, has no nd jutant and no quar-termaster, and the work of the camp must be hindered somewhat owing to the want ot a properly equipped staff, although this ia counteracted somewhat by the three thoroughly experienced staff sergeantsmajor, who are' on the staff, namely, Catohpole, Hobson, and White.

About midday Colonel G. A. Lee, D.8.0. (commander of the first military district), arrived by motor car, accom-

panied by Major __ Christian, R.A.F.A.,

Captain Cor)-, P.V.O., and Lieutenant O'Bcirne, of the Automobile Corps. After lunch, they returned to the city. It is expected that the Commandant will again visit the camp about April 1. Major Christian, who is to act as chief instruc-tor during the training, will ret'irn on Monday. He is recognised as one of the first artillery experts in Australia, an« his inntruction will, no doubt, prove in-valuable to all ranks. Last year Captain Lloyd was detailed for that duty, and his trcnohant criticism and his lrigh-cliss in-struction worked wonders.

The Y.M.C.A. has erected two marquees for the use of the men, and writing mate-rials are provided. To-night the accom-modation vvvas taxed to the uttermost. It is also proposed to arrange entertainments and provide all sorte of amusement«. The arrangements «re under the supervision of Mr. East, who has with him Mr. Tilbury,

Both these gentlemen had the misfortune to meet with an accident on Saturday night, for on opening a carbide cask the gas that must have generated in\the wet was set on fire, and an explosion occurred. Both were singed about the face, but they were »bout all day, and were present in the marquees at might.

Rain again fell on Saturday night, but the wcat-er broke, and to-day has been an idoal one. The men were busily occu-pied in doing fatigue work, erecting extra tcnt6, and constructing camp necessaries.

In the afternoon the men of each of the batteries were paraded and given general instructions. Captain F. A. Hughes, bat-tery commander of No. 12, gave -much in-teresting advic: to the boys as to the ob-servance of a clean and sanitary camp. The non-commissioned artificers m camp Sergeant Ward; No. 12, Wheeler ScrSutherland, Farrier Sergeant Cowl, Collar Sergeant Ward; No. 12, Wheoler Ser-geant Woodward, Farrier Sergeant Hodge, Collur Sergeant Perkin ; nnd 17th Bat-tery, Wheeler Sergeant M'Kccgan, Farrier Se 'geant Peters, ahd Collar Sergeant Trenfield. _