NO REGRETS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 177, 29 July 1938, Page 9

NO REGRETS.

THE FOUR COLONELS. DID WHAT THOUGHT RIGHT. "DOTT TO OOTBt COUXTKYJ" i (By TeS^^rajtb—Press Association.) WELLIXGTOX, Thursday. "I give the Minister of Defence, the Hon. F. Jones, full credit for his belief that the present force is sufficient for the defence of Xew Zealand. I say he does not know as we who have studied the question for 25 years know." With these words Colonel K. F. dsmbrill, of Gisborne. one of the four colonels who were posted to the retired list following the issue of a. manifesto on national defence, concluded a speech at the conference of the Xew Zealand Returned Soldiers* Association in Wellington to-night. After giving the reasons which actuated himself and his fellow-colonels. Colonel (luuilirill outlined his views on defence in Xew Zealand, expressing the opinion that the country could be defended bloodlessly if a sufficient force were trained. He advocated universal training 1 . Considered Resigning. "As one of 'the four colonels." I speak with a great deal of diffidence." said Colonel Gainbrill. "The country require* a lead in this matter and there was not a body who can give a better le*d than this one. As fj.r a<= the punishment of the four colonels is concerned, we ask for and seek no assistance from the Returned Soldiers" Aix&ociation. What wo did wa* done witli full knowledge that we were breaking military tradition. Wo knew some punishment must follow, and we accept it. We do not want anybody taking up the cudgels on our behalf. We did this with our eyes open.

"We did consider resigning first, which would have been the proper thing under the Army regulations, but we thought that would be a cowardly way. Our association with the Army is a very real thing. We knew we were throwing all that in. We had a. very good reason for it. We had taken the oath to obey the commands of those above us, but we also knew we had a duty to our country. lVengtay Deliberation. "The question arose: "Doe* our duty to our country as citizens and soldiers transcend our duty to His Majesty's regulations ? What* happens to us does not matter very much, but what happens to our children does matter. Were we justified in living a lie. in carrying oa as though all were well? We debated it for four nights in succession and decided on the only course we considered in the best interests of future generations as well as our own. "We realised that we had on our shoulders the responsibility of the country« defence When we know it is not sufficient, when we know we were goin<» to be in the position of asking volun" teers under os to undertake tasks for which they arc not fitted, and that they will probably lose their lives, what are we to do! My conscience is clear. I think wo have done what we thought right. Easily Defended. "The need for defence is upon us." declared Colonel Gambrill. This count ry of ours is the most easily defended if we are prepared. Our greatest safeguard is our distance from other coon tries. As. long as the Xavy is floating on the high seas |we can regard the danger as "almost 1 negligible Our air defence is in Great Britain. A successful air attack oa Britain would paralyse us. Our Xavy would go and we would be open to the wide world. Thus our first line of defence is our Xavy. "We defend our own country jn our own country. We are called upon to do that when our Xavy is gone. We hav* had our warning from the Prime Minister of Britain that some outlying part of the Empire may be called" upon to defend itself. We have to protect ourselves against that possibility. We can | do that bloodless] v.

Force of 140,000. "In 1929, when compulsorv trainin|t was suspended, we had 3Q.000 trained men, each of whom did three Tears* training. To get 140.000 will require 21 yeans. 1b 10 years' time w« shall have fewer than 70,000. Faced by 140.000 men, equipped with the most deadly weapon of tbe war, rifle and bayonet, and with machine-guns, an enemy general.staff would say: 'We know what sort of fighters tbey are. We are not np against an easy proposition. For every one of those 140"ooo we *hall have to land at least two attackers. FnT every one of 200.000 we land we must have 10 men on our line of communications, and the nearest bai«o is three days away. Is Xew Zealand worth it V "Thus if we are prepared to train our youth we shall not have to worry about a raid. We shall fight and win a blood--1 les»= victory. That ie the nearest \ approach to pacifism I can see in this benighted age." "If we are called upon to defend ourselves Be can do it easily," he declared* *'Jt is only h matter of getting the public to understand and you wiil find the objection to universal military training will disappear."