"PITIFULLY FEW"

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 286, 3 December 1941, Page 8

"PITIFULLY FEW"

HOME GUARD NUMBERS COMPLACENCY DEPLORED (0.C.) HAWERA, Tuesday. "In this strange new land of ours we are beset with a crazy complacency—a complacency which believes nothing could ever happen to us, which blindly believes that our island home is for ever insulated against the perils of international war," said Major J. Houston, at a Home Guard ceremony in Hav.»2ra. "Though our numbers may be reasonably maintained, they are pitifully few in comparison with what they should be having regard to the urgency of the situation. There are too many who give lip service to the urgency of the situation and to the idea of joining our ranks if and when there is a real emergency. Too late'. The untrained man is not only a hindrance in emergency—he is an actual menace. There will be no place for such men save in working parties at the rear. "I do wish that the many eligible men would come forward and be trained," concluded Major Houston.

MR. SEMPLE DISAPPOINTED

(P.A.) WESTPORT, Tuesday. At the conclusion of a march past of the Women's War Service Auxiliary, the Minister of National Service, Mr. Semple, expressed disappointment at the smallness of the Home Guard. There were 115,000 guardsmen throughout New Zealand, but there should be more. If New Zealand was involved in a conflict they would have a vital part to play. It was the duty of those not fit for active service to equip themselves for the defence of the women and children of New Zealand.