142 
THE ADJUTANCY OP A MILITIA ARTILLERY UNIT. 
companies being six; these, like the officers, are only on duty during 
the period of the Annual Training. 
The Company. 
The Company, all told, consists of : 1 Captain ; 1 or 2 Subalterns (3 
Companies having 2 Subalterns and the remaining 8 only 1); 1 Com¬ 
pany Sergeant-Major, 1 Sergeant, 1 Trumpeter—Permanent Staff; 2 
Sergeants, 4 Corporals, 2 Bombardiers, 2 Acting Bombardiers and 80 ; 
men—Militia. 
Instructor-in-Gunnery. 
One of the officers, either a Captain or Subaltern, in this case a Cap- : 
tain, is appointed Instructor-in-Gunnery to the unit, with additional 
pay at the rate of 2s. 6d. a day during the training, and holds the ap¬ 
pointment until be obtains field rank. This officer, although nominally 
Para. 285 one of the six Captains of Companies, is strictly enjoined to occupy 
Regulations, himself solely in instructional duties, and thus one Company is without 
1893, a Captain, and is commanded by a Subaltern, who, in his turn, expects 
to be struck off the Subalterns duty roster, and thus creates a grievance 
by diminishing the number of Subalterns for duty. 
It may here be remarked that the period for which the appointment ; 
is held constitutes another grievance. An officer, to qualify for this 
appointment, attends a three months’ course of instruction at Wool- , 
wich, and if he passes a satisfactory examination, is eligible for the ap¬ 
pointment ; but, if a subaltern is appointed and holds it till he reaches 
field rank, and if promotion be slow, the chance of any other officer 
getting it is remote. 
Both these grievances could be remedied, the first, by the officer } 
doing his company as well as his instructional duties; the second, by 
the appointment being held for a limited period, say five years. 
Lieut.-Colonel Commanding Mtlitia Artillery op the District. ( 
The immediate superior to the Officer Commanding the unit is the j 
Lieutenant-Colonel Commanding Militia and Volunteer Artillery of the i 
District, to whom all the correspondence initiated by the unit goes, 
and whose head-quarters may be at the head-quarters of the unit, or, 
as in this case, 100 miles off; this officer is the Inspecting Officer, and j 
annually inspects the unit during the training, taking two days for it. ! 
The Militia Year. 
According to the Militia Regulations, a work which appears in a new 
edition as frequently as most army books, the year is divided into three 
periods, viz.: Preliminary Drill, Training and Non-Training Periods. 
The Preliminary Drill lasts 63 days ; the Training 27 or 34 days, i 
according as the unit trains at its head-quarters, or at a place which 
entails a sea voyage from and to its head-quarters; in either case the 
unit assembles and disbands at its head-quarters. The Non-Training 
Period comprises the rest of the year. 
The Training takes place any time between 1st May and 80th Sep¬ 
tember, these dates being the earliest and latest on which troops at home 
are permitted to be under canvas without special authority. 
