GREAT RESPONSE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 10, 12 January 1940, Page 7

GREAT RESPONSE.

PEOPLE OF INDIA. Overwhelming Number Of Offers To Serve. enlistments refused. British Official Wireless. (Received 1.30 p.m.) Kl'tlßV, .January 11. From almost every district- in India reports continue to be received indicating that there is no lessening of the desil'e so el en rlv shown by the bulk of lite Indian |>e<tple in the early days of the; war, to render such assistance t»s they ean. Countless numbers have offered themselves for enlistment, and many have had to lie refused, even if only temporarily.

To meet the overwhelming response, and to mitigate disappointment, explanation lias once again been issued by the Indian authorities, showing the many important respects in which the present war differs from the last.

During the early days of the war. it is explained, many thousands of Indian soldiers were brought into full Army service. These Included newly enlisted men, reservists and members of the mobilised territorial units, and the large intake was fully adequate for Indian requirements at the time.

It must hlso be borne in mind that the enlistment of greater numbers th«n are really necessary might entail interference with India's vital industries and with agriculture.