Page:Handbook of Western Australia.djvu/150

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132
Western Australia.

in barracks at Perth and Fremanlle, consisting of 230 Non-Commissioned Officers and men.[1] These are commanded by a Field Officer on the Staff, having command also of whatever troops there may be in the Colony, and two other Staff Officers; there is a Surgeon-Major in charge of the Hospitals, and a Deputy Commissary in charge of stores. There are attached to this force two twelve-pound breech-loading Armstrong guns, two six-pound muzzle-loading field pieces, and two twelve-pound Howitzers. The men are armed with Schneider breech-loading rifles. There are also some 30 Enrolled Pensioners distributed at Geraldton, Greenough, York, Northam, Kojonup, Guildford, and Albany.

Date of
Formation of
Corps.
Description of Corps. Captains. Subinterns. Non-Commissioned
Officers and men.
No. of horses.
June, 1872 Western Australian Troop of Volunteer Horse Artillery 1 1 30 32
Oct., 1862 Pinjarrah Mounted Volunteers 1 2 30 31
June, 1877 Wellington do. do. 1 2 57
June, 1872 Metropolitan Rifle Volunteers 1 3 128
Oct., —   Fremantle do. do. 1 2 99
Nov., 1874 Guildford do. do. 0 1 61
Oct., 1876 Geraldton do. do 1 2 61
Total 6 13 464 68

The Troop of Artillery has the use of two twelvepound breech-loading Armstrong guns belonging to the Pensioner Force, but the guns are harnessed and horsed at the expense of the Colony.

Every Volunteer, whether officer or private, who shall have served continuously for a period of five years, and qualified under the regulations, has claim to a grant of 50 acres of land, to be assigned by occupation-

  1. Orders for disbanding the Staff and the pensioner Force at Perth have been received since the above was in type.