School Cadets

History 

There was a big focus on having drill in schools (under the Education act 1877) for fitness and well-being. Under The Defence Act Amendment Act 1900, the Governor could make regulations for a Cadet Corps in connection with public schools, and give control to the Education Department. This was the Public School Cadets, running from1902 until it was disbanded in 1910.
In 1911, Lord Kitchener stated, during his visit to New Zealand, that the Cadet movement had an important role to play in the Defence of the Empire. Subsequently, the Army began to provide uniforms, rifles and other equipment to the units. This Army support continued through World War I, with many ex-school cadets making up the First Expeditionary Force.
1911 SENIOR CADETS (LATER SCHOOL CADETS)
The Defence Act of 1909 created the Territorial Force, which was aimed at having a compulsory part-time force where civilians would be given basic military training. The goal was to have 27,000 Territorial 18-19yr olds, with another 38,000 cadets (Junior Cadets 12-14, and Senior Cadets 14-18yrs). The Senior Cadets were to feed into the General Training Section (18yrs-21yrs), until being in the Reserves from 21yrs- 30yrs.

Junior Cadets lasted just a short period from 1910 -1912. Senior Cadets thrived on the other hand, and became wide spread throughout NZ High Schools and Colleges. Many ex-Cadets went on to serve in WWI and then later in WWII. It became widely known as School Cadets and at its peak in the 1960’s, nearly 60,000 boys were in school cadets. 
Extract from www.cadetforces.org.nz/history

Cadets Corps at Whangārei Boys’ High School

For a number of years the second week of the school year was dedicated to intensive military training. Unless there was a very good reason to be excused, students spent the week on the Lower Grounds doing drill, weapon training, field craft and training for the live shoot at the Whareora Rifle Range.

The local full time army, and sometimes air force, personnel were usually on hand to ensure that the marching was correctly done (with at least one full parade each day) and they also educated the students on rifle maintenance.

The pupils were divided into companies - the format of these changed over the years and a basic outline can be found in the ‘timeline’

A number of musically talented students made up a military band.

The battalion (all the companies together) were commanded by a teacher but the regimental sergeant major (RSM) was one of the senior boys.  Similarly each company had a teacher as officer in command with pupils taking the other officer positions as company sergeant major (CSM), platoon commanders, platoon sergeants and corporals.

Any form of training requires regular practice so most weeks of the school year, end of year exams excluded, everyone wore their cadet uniform to school, and would have lesson time for drill training, etc.

Students wore a cadet uniform issued from the army drill hall in Walton Street. Comprising of  khaki serge shorts, a long sleeved serge button up jacket with brass buttons, a fore and aft cap or hat, with a brass 15th North Auckland Regiment badge, a soft but broad web belt with an S clasp and a pair of wool sock tubes with a tape loop across the bottom. This uniform was colloquially referred to as a sandpaper suit. 

Senior students were issued with serviceable rifles for parade. These were normally Lee Enfield 0.303 calibre No 4 rifles (but were not issued with bayonets) and small boys with lighter Martini rifles dating from the Boer War. These latter rifles were for drill only and were no longer able to be fired. The 0.303 is a large heavy rifle which is bolt operated and could have a 10 shot magazine fitted. A large number of these weapons were manufactured at the end of the First World War. 

The weapons at the school belonged to the NZ Army, but they were kept in the basement of the East wing of the quadrangle buildings (the main school building, built in 1926). As well as housing the rifles it also housed a small number of Bren guns, Vickers medium machine guns, 2 inch Mortar, 3 inch Mortar, 2 Boyes 0.50 Cal anti-tank rifle and a 2 pounder anti-tank gun, a two inch field gun, field radios and miscellaneous support equipment. About twenty 0.22 rifles were used for target practise at our rifle range at the base of the Western Hills. Almost all of the equipment was fully operational. The equipment was maintained by schoolboys and periodically checked by NZ Army armourers and stores accounting staff.  The larger 6 pounder anti-tank gun was kept at the army hall in Walton Street.

All cadets had to also carry out target practice, with a 0.22 cal rifle and be marked for a national shooting. This was normally carried out at a range within a valley in the Western Hills close to the weir in the Waiarohia Stream. Boys over 16 also carried out shooting with 0.303 cal rifles and Bren guns at the Whareora range and those who proved to be good marksmen competed at distances up to 600 yards in a national cadet rifle shooting competition called the Press Shield.  School cadets also operated the targets in the butts under the supervision of army weapons training instructors.

The WBHS cadet battalion compared more than favourably with other secondary schools, winning the competition for the “Daughters of the Empire” trophy for the most efficient school cadet battalion in the Northern Military District (north of Taupo) on a number of occasions. 

In 1967 Cadet Corps was disbanded at the school.