NEED TO BE STRONG

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 260, 3 November 1941, Page 2

NEED TO BE STRONG

TO AVOID ATTACK VALUE OF DEFENCE FORCES (0.C.) DUNEDIN, Sunday. A statement that the language of superior force was the only language understood by Hitler and his colleagues, and that it was the duty of New Zealand to do the maximum possible to secure that superior force was made by Brigadier O. H. Mead, officer commanding the Southern Military District, in an address at the annual meeting of the Territorial Association of Otago. Brigadier Mead spoke on the subject of home defence, and emphasised the vital need for an adequate and highly-trained force to protect New Zealand.

'The expansion of the Territorial Force takes time, and, believe me, we have no spare time," said Brigadier Mead. "The stronger we are, the greater will have to be the force sent against us, and I hope we will be able to develop our strength to such a state that an attack would not be worth while, or that the enemy would have to send such a detachment as would weaken him somewhere else. If we can reach such a state, then the insurance premium we are having to pay for the maintenance of our force will be well worth while."

"We cannot be strong everywhere, owing to our small population in relation to the size of the country, and, therefore, we must have small defence forces, so equipped that they can reach any threatened point quickly. Naturally the Home Guard and the National Reserve will plav their part, particularly in local defence work. They must be as mobile as possible, and it is a wrong suggestion that the Territorial Army can be of a lower standard of training than the overseas force. High Standard Necessary "If we are attacked we will have to face picked, highly-trained troops, not second-line men, and therefore the greatest amount of effective training must be given to this army of ours. The training must be of just as high a standard as that for the Expeditionary Force, and we are going to give it to them. "Although we may have to fight superior forces, an appreciation of the strength of the forces that may be sent against us should not deter us in the slightest from the greatest effort we can make to train our own force up to the right standard. "Anything less than the maximum effort is equivalent to shirking," Brigadier Mead concluded. "It requires great determination and effort, because the nation that is not prepared to fight and die for its liberty will go under. We will not remain out of the battle zone unless we develop our manpower and our army and train it to the highest possible degree. If we do less and are attacked, and suffer heavily, it will be our own fault. It is necessary to act quickly. Ten thousand welltrained men now are worth 50,000 after the battle."