May 25, 1916 
LAND & WATER 
II 
indeed, Australia has played and is plajnng and will 
continue to play, the part of a Dominion of the Empire 
whose people have risen easily and fearlessly to exalted 
vision of a great Imperial cause. 
New Zealand's Share 
By Noel Ross 
Ol 
General Service Badge 
N April 25th 
Londoners 
ined the 
streets and 
cheered themselves 
hoarse as the Anzacs 
marched to the 
memorial service in 
Westminster Abbey. 
What was it they 
were cheering ? Some, 
perhaps, applauded 
the good carriage and 
the fine physique of 
the men from Over- 
seas. Some cheered 
because it was the first 
approach to a military 
pageant, the nearest 
to a " Maffick," that 
they had yet been allowed. How many saw the real 
significance of those long columns ? How many of those 
enthusiastic Londoners realised that the true lesson lay 
in the fact that those men, drawn by no tangible tie, 
had come 15,000 miles to fight for Empire. 
We in New Zealand heard of the declaration of war on 
August 5th, 1914. Inside three weeks an expeditionary 
force, fully equipped with guns, and escorted by colonial 
war vessels, had captured German Samoa, the first 
enemy possession to fall into the hands of Britain. 
During the same period the military resources of our 
small Dominion had been taxed to the uttermost, but 
they had withstood the strain. 
Crowded Recruiting Offices 
Camps sprang up in various parts, and men were 
drafted to central points. At Auckland, Wellington, 
Christchurch, and Dunedin, the recruiting offices were 
rushed by men anxious to enlist. Many would-be 
recruits came hundreds of miles, only to find that they 
were too late and would have to await the formation of 
the reinforcement units before they could get places. 
At the end of the first month there was in the camps 
a force of approximately 10,000 men. Nor was this all. 
Thanks to the system of compulsory military training, 
one man out of three, and that is an excellent leaven' 
knew how to handle his rifle ; knew what was expected 
of him in the way of discipline ; understood the elements 
of camp sanitation ; and even had a grounding in work 
in the field. With the mounted men these benefits were 
even more marked. Those who had them, brought their 
own horses, many of them valuable beasts, and they knew 
how to look after them. A colonial trooper is his own 
veterinary. 
Clothing and stores of all sorts came quickly to hand, 
and before the end of September the New Zealand' 
Expeditionary Force was an accomplished fact, fully 
armed, with complete equipment, and ready to go 
anywhere the Mother Land commanded. Big ocean- 
going merchantmen and liners were acquired by the 
authorities. Marble panelled saloons were transformed 
into rough deal-boarded mess rooms, and cabins were 
removed. :^unks were fitted up tier upon tier in the 
holds, and even in the refrigerating chambers. Then 
the men were marched from the four centres to the 
transports. To the man in the ranks things seemed to 
go without a hitch, and no better testimonial could be 
given to those responsible for the organising of the force. 
The fleet of grey-painted troopships concentrated at the 
port of the capital— and waited, for the German was 
prowling in the Pacific. A month passed before it was safe 
to venture out. The time was not wasted, for route 
marches filled the long spring days. At last came our 
escort. « We woke one morning to see moored near us a 
great black hull. It was the cruiser Ihuki, flying the 
Rising Sun of Japan. Then on a morning when the sea 
was so smooth that each ship was reflected in perfect 
outhne, the twelve grey transports glided out of harbour. 
The Great Adventure had begun. 
No need to recall the long period of training in Egj^t, 
or the tragic sequel at Gallipoli. Some of us had but a 
few hours on the Peninsula, some, but very few, held out 
through the long days until the evacuation. 
From the original New Zealand contingent of 10,000, 
has sprung a force of 50,000 men ! Of this total 38,000 
have sailed from New Zealand and the remainder are in 
camp in the Dominion. In addition, some hunchreds have 
joined in England and Australia. To you people who 
talk lightly of milHons, that seems perhaps a drop in the 
ocean. It means more to us, for that 50,000 has come 
out of a population of a million souls — no more. To 
keep up reinforcements for this force, we have to supply 
2,500 men every month and the men arc not hanging back. 
Ideal Camps 
An Imperial military man of high standing said recently 
that the two main camps in New Zealand, at Trentham 
and Featherstone, were probably equal to any in the 
world. That seems a sweeping assertion, but it is possible. 
Between the two camps 10,000 men can be accommodated. 
All the men are in wooden buildings, and there is no 
overcrowding. The water supply and the drainage are 
excellent, there is electric light, and a railway runs into 
the centre of each camp. There are in addition bathing 
arrangements and every device that can be thought of 
for the comfort of the men. Horses are being shipped 
continually, and there are twelve ocean-going ships solely 
occupied in carrying men and supphes from the Dominion 
to the Force in the field, for we are maintaining it. 
As yet New Zealand has no form of conscription for 
service abroad, but here is something that should interest 
the labour unions, men of the Clyde, and some of the 
Welsh miners. Quite recently, our Minister for Defence 
addressed a body of railwaymen on recruiting. He 
spoke at length, and forcefully, At the end of his speech 
he was approached by a deputation. And what do you 
think he was asked ? These working men wanted a 
Conscription Bill brought in ! The men put their case 
plainly. If they enlisted now, they said, their positions-, 
were immediately filled by those who stayed behind. 
Under conscription they would all have to go, and the 
slacker would gain no advantage. Conscription has not 
come yet, but it may be necessary. If it does come, 
then it will come easily, and the country will accept if 
with good heart and understanding. 
One is often asked by people in England, and still 
oftener told, the difference between the New Zealand and 
the British Tommy. The theory seems to be that the 
men are of a different class. One is told, " Your men 
must be different. They live in the open spaces, not in 
towns. They come from the land, not from offices." 
It surprises people who hold that opinion when they are 
told that our men are, for the most part, recruited from 
approximately the same class as the men who make up 
an English division This applies more especially to our 
infantry. Out of the four battalions in the main body 
there were very few men who had ever spent more than a 
fortnight in the country in each year of their lives. They 
came from offices, shops, and warehouses, and their 
'' open life " for the most part was confined to a stroll 
in a small patch of garden after their day's work. No, 
the secret does not he there. Rather is the solution to 
be found in the entirely different social scheme of the 
Dominion. It is a complex matter, too complex to detail 
here, but, briefly, it is this. 
In New Zealand a man more fully recognises his own 
worth. You may take a man from any class at random, 
a shearer, a wharf labourer, or a cabman, and you may 
talk to him for half an hour. In that time it is more 
than likely that you will never hear him call you sir, nor 
will he show you any particular deference, whatever your 
own position may be. The Prime Minister of the 
Dominion is known familiarly as " Bill." The working 
man has no idea that you are one bit higher up the social 
scale than he is. If you are a capable man in your own 
line, he admires you for it, but that is all, and in return 
he asks no more from you 
Now such a state of affairs alters the whole outlook 
in the matter of disciphne. Times without number our 
