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A Short History of the
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Having failed to support the volunteer system to the extent the Defence Council deemed necessary, the general public now 'bought' the army they deserved. With the Defence Act of 1909 the Government introduced compulsory military training. Total volunteer strength at the time was approximately 11,000, of which about half, or less in some units, ever attended parades or camps. Thus with the new 30,000-member Territorial Force as it was to be called, instructional and other staffs had to be greatly expanded. Since the beginning of organised military activity in New Zealand there had existed a small staff of Officers and Senior NCO's engaged in administering and instructing militia and volunteers - where these duties were not carried out by the Armed Constabulary. Most were serving or retired regulars from the Imperial Army hired by the New Zealand Government for the purpose - and included Gunners. They were stationed in ones and twos in centres boasting militia and volunteer units, and were loosely referred to as 'the permanent staff'. Some were employed on a part-time basis, with a few notable exceptions were well past their prime, and most of the non-artillery component were badly out of touch with conditions and developments in their corps. To cope with the new situation Defence increased the establishment of the RNZA to 315 all ranks. To handle other arms of the service the Government at the same time created the New Zealand Staff Corps and the New Zealand Permanent Staff, both of which became effective in 1911. The NZSC was a corps of Officers with none below the rank of Lieutenant, while the NZPS consisted of Warrant Officers and Staff Sergeants, that is to say members were recruited as Staff Sergeants! Many of these Officers and NCOs were ex-Imperial Army, but included were a few New Zealanders who had seen service in the South African War or in the NZ Armed Constabulary or Permanent Force. Members of the NZPS were recruited as Staff Sergeants 'because they were already trained'. However, for some reason never explained to RNZA NCOs and Gunners, the same principle was not applied to them. Before a man could aspire to the rank of Staff Sergeant in the Regiment he had first to serve three years in each of the ranks of Gunner, Bombardier, Corporal and Sergeant - and pass the exam prescribed for each. Then if he passed the exam for Staff Sgt, was otherwise suitable for promotion - and there was a vacancy - he might receive his crown. Under the conditions then prevailing he could count himself fortunate if he achieved it in less than 20 years. Thus Gunners and junior NCOs found themselves performing duties similar to those carried out by NZPS WOs and Staff Sgts, but enjoying neither the pay nor the status. They felt their own side had let them down. Officers were relatively unaffected; cadets on graduating from a military college were commissioned into either the NZSC or RNZA as substantive Lieutenants, their subsequent promotion followed the same pattern, and their rates of pay were the same. An Officer commissioned from the ranks was a rarity, for if he had been a WO or Senior NCO he suffered a drop in pay. A few accepted Honorary Commissions, which gave them Officers' privileges without loss of pay, but they retained WOs appointments in most cases. Upon retirement the 'honorary' part of their titles was dropped, a parting bouquet which made no real difference to their status - and cost the Department nothing. The favouring of one branch of the regular force with better conditions of service than the other frequently made relations between them acrimonious. To make matters worse, young and impressionable soldiers under training often aped the attitudes and unfriendly behaviour of their respective RNZA and NZPS instructors toward one another, without fully understanding the underlying reasons. Such ill feeling did little to encourage the cooperation so vitally necessary between supporting and supported arms. Regulations made under the 1909 Act and its subsequent amendments also changed the order of precedence in the New Zealand Military Forces, as the New Zealand Army was then known. The Permanent Force, then 25 years old, was relegated to second place behind the Staff Corps and Permanent Staff. As might be expected the change did little to promote harmony between the two factions. Naturally not a few RNZA Gunners and NCOs adopted the old adage, "If you can't beat them, join them,' and forsook the guns for the incomparably better prospects the NZPS offered. Eventually recruitment for the PS by way of the RNZA became the normal method. When in 1937 the writer sought to join the regular force the NZPS Sub-Area Sergeant-Major, an Honorary Lieutenant and South African War veteran whose service dated back to the Submarine Mining Branch of the Permanent Force, said with some feeling, 'You'll have to join the RNZA first, but as soon as you get a chance transfer to the PS. You'll never get any bloody promotion in the artillery.' However, he did mention some good points; one was, 'Keep your nose clean and you've got a job till you're 55'. Ten years later the writer was to recall these words with some bitterness - of which more will be said later in this story. The perpetrators of the 'new order' committed another grave sin which must be recorded. After the 1908 elections Parliament fielded a majority committed to supporting the prohibitionists whose rabid, puritanical views were permitted to find expression in the Defence Act. With a thoughtless disregard for the traditions of the soldier, and the paucity of the comforts society grudgingly allowed him, they now ordered the serving of liquor in all military establishments to cease. To the compulsory trainee under 21 who was not allowed to drink, the regulation might have been understandable; to the old regular who had had his grog since Armed Constabulary days, it was heresy. Economies during the late 1920's 'levelled the bubble' to some extent. The 1927 Army List for NZPS shows a handful of Sergeants and Corporals 'on probation,' ie they had been enlisted in those ranks, not as Staff Sergeants, and by the 1930's recruits were being enlisted as private soldiers. However, their rate of promotion still surpassed that prevailing in the RNZA. In addition the PS were given acting rank which gave them status above that of RNZA NCOs and Men holding the same substantive ranks. So the old enmities remained. previous | index | next | History index | Home | ||