JUBILEE HISTORY TEXT, 1911. Chapter XII - 'The College Cadet Corps'.The following text is an excerpt from the
Jubilee History Text published in 1911.
The College Cadet Corps'When the cadet movement was originated in August, 1884, there was an immediate desire shown to organise a corps at the College. The Doctor decided against it, however, because he came to the conclusion that so much preliminary work would be necessary in the last four months of the year that there would be serious interference with the studies of those who were preparing for examinations. The formation of a College Cadet Corps was accordingly postponed until the following year.
It was in March, 1885, that the College corps formally came into being. Altogether, 51 boys were enrolled. SergeantMajor Rashleigh was the instructor, and the new corps was brought to a very creditable state of efficiency. An official inspection was held on 4th September of that year by Lieut.Col. Brownrigg, Lieut.Col. Rashleigh, and Major Snee. Those officers expressed the highest satisfaction with the training and discipline of the corps. The boys were armed with Brunswick riflesfor drill purposes, but had a stock of MartiniHenri rifles and carbines for rifle practice.
The officers and noncommissioned officers of that first corps were as follows:—Commanding Officer, Lieut. Marden (one of the masters); other officers: Lieut. R. H. Morris (another master) and Lieut. Arthur Morrison; Noncommissioned Officers; Sergeant A. Reid, Sergeant C. Robertson, Corporal N. McArthur, Corporal Brunt, Corporal Simmons, LanceCorporal Bryce, and LanceCorporal Devlin.
In those days schools were allowed to adopt their own uniform. The original uniform was not an attractive one. It was really like the old telegraph boys uniform—blue serge tunic and trousers with red pipings, a blue cheesecutter cap witha red pompom in front. This was superseded, after the College corps had been in existence for a year, by dark green tunic and trousers, with a conical helmet with metal mountings and a spike on top.
The corpsfell off in numbers after the first enrolment. This was ascribed by the Doctor to the absence of rifle butts within reasonable distance of the school, and a target was provided on the Barwon which permitted the College cadets to obtain rifle shooting practice close to the school. Still, in 1887, there were only 36 of all ranks under the command of Lieutenant Vasey.
The College corps took part in the opening of the Juvenile Exhibition in Geelong on 22nd November, 1887. In December of that year they attended their first encampment. It was at Elsternwick, and lasted from Wednesday, 14th December, till Saturday, 17th December. Even at that date Dr. Morrison was endeavouring to instil into the school an enthusiasm for military work. "It is to be hoped," he said, at Christmas, 1887, "that the school will be as distinguished foritsmilitary spirit as it has hitherto been for athletic prowess."
That 1887 camp at Elsternwick was not a success, and the following year the College was represented by only 20 cadets at Langwarrin. The camp was held in October, and those who attended it had a most enjoyable time. It was in 1888, too, that the first College shooting team went to Williamstown. Prizes were gained by the team, while W. Neale was well up in the Senior Individual Match.
The next year the corps numbered only 35. R. Reid was an acting lieutenant, H. Reid and Clive Morrison were sergeants, W. Bell and A. Timms corporals, Ian Glassford and F. Guthrie lancecorporals, and J. D'Helin bugler and drummer. Matriculation still interfered with the senior shooting practice, but again the team secured a place among the prize winners, and R. Suter was twelfth in the Senior Individual Match.
It was in 1889 that the College uniform of dark green was abandoned and khakee substituted forit. That year too, a military sports meeting was held on the Melbourne Cricket Ground, and MiltonWettenhall ran second in the Open Schools' Cadet Race, the distance being 440 yards.
Lieutenant Hall had taken command of the corps in 1889 and 1890, and under his care it improved in the latter year, the numbers increasing to 40. School shooting competitions were organised. The senior prize with MartiniHenri rifles was won by Sergeant W. Bell, with Gus Kearney second, while A. NIeedham won the junior prize, with Harold McFarland second. The 440 yards race at the Naval and Military Sports in Melbourne was won in 1890 by A. Timms.
The mere fact that the cadet corps jumped from 40 of all ranks in 1890 to 75 in 1891, is enough to show that some new influence was at work. It was Mr. Norman Morrison. He had come to the school asviceprincipal. He was a keen soldier, and after a personal interview with every boy in the school, he succeeded in infecting everybody with his own enthusiasm. He introduced a number of newfeatures. A crack drill instructor—Sergt. Major F. H. Hart—the same man who achieved such success in England as a Commonwealth instructional officer in 1911, was brought down from Melbourne twice a week to put the new corps, half of which consisted of recruits, into shape.
Hart was then SergeantMajor in the infantry company in which Mr. Norman Morrison held a lieutenant's commission in Melbourne, and he had instructed Mr. Morrison himself in his practical work. He was a fine drill instructor, and Lieutenant Morrison was a splendid officer. Between them they soon produced a cadet company with all the setup, snap, and smartness of professional soldiers.
A bugle band was also established. There was a big drum, two side drums, and seven buglers. Mr. T. T. Brown, one of the masters, with a rare talent formusic, took the band in charge, and soon made it amost valuable adjunct to the corps.
A set of colours, called the Queen's Colours, was then annually competed for by thevarious school corps. The school that won held the coloursfora year. Lieut. Morrison set out to win these colours. The idea of competition put the corps on its mettle, and all the leisure time of the cadets was given up to active preparation. A visitor might easily havemistaken the school for a military academy. Between breakfast and morning school, during the dinner hour, and after school in the afternoon, every day squads of cadets going through various exercises, noncommissioned officers drilling skeleton companies were to be found scattered all over the ground, while the bugle band could be heard making weird noises in some retired corner in the effort tomaster new marches and calls.
The corps did not win the colours. They were beaten by a very narrow margin, but the excellence of their work was highly praised by LieutCol. Penno, the Assistant Adjutant General, who acted as umpireinchief.
The work done embraced everything in the syllabus of training for infantry. There is no doubt that the corps at that time was in a much higher state of efficiency than any of the militia infantry companies. This result was achieved, it must be remembered, with a corps in which all the officers and noncommissioned officers were new, and half the rank and file recruits.
Shooting was, with the arrival of Lieut. Morrison, elevated at once into the front rank of competitive sport. Every cadet shot hismusketry course, and those who showed promise were regularly coached at the butts on the Barwon and at East Geelong. The senior and junior teams were chosen from those who showed the highest form. Juniors who shot with Francottes used a target in the school yard until one of the boys, Harold Carstairs, one day strolled across in front of the target, just as a bullet whizzed past his head. The lookout stationed there to prevent such a happening had failed to see him, and Carstairs had miraculously escaped being shot. Carstairs went out as a lieutenant with the Victorian Bushmen during the South AfricanWar. His luck stayed with him, and he escaped the Boer bullets as he had those of his schoolmates.
In the first year of Norman Morrison's administration, the corps secured 3rd place in the senior teamsmatch and 3rd in the battle firing match at Williamstown. Sergeant Trebilcock also obtained 2nd place in the senior individual. Sectional drill competitions were inaugurated in the corps, and silvermedals awarded the section scoring the highest number of points.
A distinctive feature was introduced into the corps' uniform in 1892 by the adoption of a dark blue Glengarry cap for wear during the wintermonths. The College teams were improving in shooting. Norman Morrison was a fine coach, and associated with him was Lieutenant Plante, one of the masters, who also took a keen interest in the shooting. The senior team, in 1892, secured second place in the senior match, fired with Martini rifles, while the junior team obtained second place in the Francotte section, though 24 teams entered in it.
Every year the College shooting teams had been creeping nearer the leading place. The senior team, in 1893, obtained the coveted first place, and beat all other schools. The matches were at Williamstown on 9th December. The College first team won the senior teams match by 14 points, while the second team tookfourthprize. The battlefiring match was also won by the College. In the senior individual match the College won 5 prizes.
In 1894 Norman Morrison obtained his captaincy. The corps was being kept in the same high state of efficiency reached in the first year of his command. The shooting too maintained its high level. In 1894 the senior teams secured 2nd and 4th places, losing 1st place by 2 points. In the senior individual the College gained 6 places out of 7. Sgt. Redmond won first prize, Cadet J. Dennis second prize, and Corporal Robertson third.
Lieut. McKeddie, who is now a wellknown medical man in Melbourne, was this year for the first time associated with Capt. Morrison. The following year, Capt. Morrison was in Europe, and Lieut. McKeddie was in command of the corps. The College won the teamsmatch this year, and thus held the Sargood shield for the first year of its existence. In the individual match, 2nd (Sgt. Calhoun), 3rd (Lieut. McFarlane), 4th (Corp. Young), prizes were gained.
Next Year the College again carried off the Sargood shield, while the second team obtained second place in the battle firing match. In 1897 the senior team secured second place in the competition for the Sargood shield, and won the battlefiring match, for which a silver cup had been presented by the Minister for Defence. Sgt. W. Robertson also won the senior individual match and the prizefor the champion senior shot. Lieut. Whiting and Corp. Lobb secured 3rd and 4th places respectively. In the Francotte section, Cadet L. Orr proved "The best young shot" at the meeting.
The corps, in 1899, reached its highest strength since its establishment, when there were 80 boys on the muster roll. There was much military ardour displayed in Victoria this year. It was the first year of the South African War, and contingents were being sent from this country. The school corps attended the review in Melbourne on the occasion of the departure of the first Tasmanian and Victorian contingentsfor the seat of war. Second place was gained in the school match by the senior shooting team, while Sgt. A. Maxwell won the senior individual match, with Corp. H. Collocott third.
Great as was the strength of the corps in 1899, it was surpassed by the enrolment of 1900. The South AfricanWar was having its effect, and the College cadet corps numbered 105 thoroughly trained officers, noncommissioned officers, and cadets. An encampment at Langwarrin—the expenses of which were paid by the boys themselves—provided triumphs for the College corps. Their marching, their steadiness, and the absolute precision of their work gave them more the appearance of regular soldiers than volunteer cadets. It was the first campforvery many years, and also the most successful ever held. In shooting this year the College tied with the Geelong Grammar School for the Sargood Shield, but were counted out at the longer range, and obtained second place. The College second team secured third prize, and in the Battle Firing match occupied second place.
All records were beaten in 1901, when the College corps reached a strength of 115, including a bugle band of 15 drummers and buglers. That year the College swept the board at the annual riflematches. The Sargood Shield and the Cumming Challenge Cup were won by the College team, while Corporal Gillespie won the senior individual match and the prizefor Champion Senior Shot of the State. In the battlefiring match, the College team was second. It was in this year that a private rifle range forjuniors was formed in the quarries, near the College. At the encampment at Langwarrin the corpsmustered a strength of 87.
The year 1902 is memorable, because for the first timethe Governor of Victoria (Sir George Sydenham Clarke) visited the College and presided at the annual distribution of prizes. He reviewed the cadet corps and was highly pleased with the steadiness and smartness of the boys. For the second year in succession the Sargood Shield and the Cumming Cup were won by the College, while the prizefor the Champion School Shot of the State was won by Sgt. J.
F. S. Shannon.
So keen was the enthusiasm for shooting that over 12,000 rounds of M.E. and ball ammunition were expended in practice for the matches of 1903. For the third year in succession the College won the shooting championship of the State, and retained possession of the Sargood Shield and the Cumming Cup. The second team won the Field Firing match at head and shoulder targets, and so secured for the school permanent possession of the cup for the match. In the Empire Cadet match, fired for the first time this year, the College team's score was the highest but one in the Commonwealth.
There were 140 cadets in the corps in 1904. In 1905 there were 145, while in 1906 the total had grown to 161, and in 1907 to 170. What a puny muster those greenuniformed, helmet clad 35 of 1888 would have seemed beside this double company of 170. In shooting the College remained at the top of the tree for afew more years. In 1904, for the fourth successive year, the Sargood Shield came to the College, while thefirst four places in the individual match went to members of the College team—Cadet R. W. Littlejohn obtaining first prize.
The greatest and the best of the College shooting successes came in 1905. That year the senior team won the Sargood Shield and the Field Firing match, while Lieut. Crawford, Corp. Dennis, and Sgt. Dennis, with scores of 62 each, filled the first three placesin the senior individual,, and Cadet Sloane, with a score of 60, occupied 4th place. This was an overwhelmingvictory. But there was more to follow, for the junior team won the Junior Sargood Shield. Never before had one school triumphed in thisfashion by taking first place in both senior and junior shooting. In addition, the senior team won the Cumming Cup.
There have been very few shooting victories since 1905. The following year, Sgt. R. L. Dennis won the senior individual atWilliamstown, and the senior team managed to hold the Cumming Cup. An encampment was held this year in Queen's Park. In 1907 every effort was put out to win back the shooting supremacy for the College. Over 20,000 rounds of ball were shot away in practice. A subtarget riflemachine was imported and set up at the College. Shooting was becoming more and more a matter of scientific accuracy and continual practice. But Melbourne schools triumphed at the annual matches.
It was the same in 1908 and again in 1909. The College shooting had not deteriorated, but that of the Metropolitan schools had wonderfully improved. In 1905 the College had won 1st and 2nd places for the Sargood Shield, with scores of 285 and 270. In 1907 their score was 287, but Wesley College put on 312. In the Cumming Cup, in 1905, the College had scored
440. In 1907 Wesley put up the astonishing total of 465. Yet in 1908 Scotch College won the Cumming Cup with a score of 507, and though Geelong College had improved its score to 475—ten more than the winners in the previous year—they were only 4th on the list. In 1910 the College scored 489 in the Cumming Cup, and were again 4th,Wesley winning with the record score of 508.
In the Sargood match it has been the same. In 1908, though the College put on a score of 305—an increase of 20 points on their winning score of 1905—they could get no nearer than 3rd place; Wesley's winning figures being 317. In 1909 the College increased its score to 311, but againWesley won with 314, and the College was second.
If ever there had been a special reason why the College should want to do well in shooting it was in 1910. The headmasters of the various public schools had given a fine shield, and established a new match, called, in memory of one who did so much to develop school cadet shooting, "The Norman Morrison." But the College could not win the shield. It went toWesley. Scotch College won the Sargood Shield with the record score of 322.
The College War Record Many Old Collegians saw service in the South African War. Trooper Vincent Kearns, of Waldron's Scouts, went through the Colenso and Spion Kop engagements, and took part in the famous relief of Ladysmith. He was killed in action in November, 1901. Kearns was a son of the Rev. J. T. Kearns, and was held in the highest esteem by his contemporaries at the College. A tablet was set up at the College to his memory—the first old collegian to fall in the service of his country.
Dr. W. W. Hearne, who was seriously wounded, and Dr. J. G. Bell were in the field in Africa as army surgeons. Others who served were Lieut. Harold Carstairs, J. Gullan, and J. Myers, of the Victorian Bushmen; Troopers A. J. Grey, who was wounded, and G. J. Sandford, of Thornycroft's Light Horse; V. Batten, of the Field Artillery; Corporal V. O'Farrell, of the New Zealand Bushmen, who was awarded a commission in the Imperial army; F. P. Strickland, of the West Australian Bushmen; M. Pasco, J. Joyce, A. C. Sutherland, L, Strickland, and Arthur
R. Morrison, who served with corps raised in Africa. The chaplain to the Imperial Australian Regiment was Major Holden, who is also chaplain to the Victorian forces. With the same regiment were corporals G. O. McPherson and A. C. Whiting, Trumpeter G. Yelland, R. Lowe,
E. Stone, andW. Madden. All these old collegians received their first military training in the Geelong College Cadet Corps.
During the siege of the Foreign Legations in Pekin, at the time of the Boxer Rising, Dr. G. E. Morrison, who was then The Times correspondent in Pekin, was severely wounded while fighting with the garrison.
Several old collegians have obtained commissions in the Imperial and Commonwealth forces, and taken up military careers.'
Sources: Sources: Geelong College. History, Register, .. And Records by G, McLeod Redmond. Melb; Sands & McDougall, 1911. pp 119-129.