THE KING'S CALL.

Press, Volume LVI, Issue 16883, 10 July 1920, Page 10

THE KING'S CALL.

LINKING- UP REGULABS AND TERBITOBIALS. (FROM OEB OWN COItEESPOXDENT.) LONDON, May 20. By means of an address to Lord Lieutenants, Lord Mayors, and Lord Provosts, the King has issued a stirring call to the nation to revive tue Territorial Force. Twelve years have passed since King Edward muue his appeal to cieate the Jj'orcc, and in tue mcunwiiile, a.s King (ieorge says, tue most prodigious events ill military history nave taken place, and "my Empire and its people havo been exposed to the greatest dangers. Tiiat wo jiavo warded off those dangers effectually, and come safeiy through the years of storm and crisis to a is in no small measure duo to the Territorial Force. More than a million Territorial soldiers fought overseas shoulder to shoulder on equal terms with the regular forces, and with the finest troops from every part of tho Empire. There was no theatre of war into which British Territorial Forces did not penetrate ; there was none in which they did not do credit to the British name. "Tho British Empire has turned from war to rjeace. Setting an example to many nations, and giving proof of our confidence and of our goodwill to the whole world, we have abandoned tho principle of compulsory military service to which wo were forced to resort in the hard times of war, and have returned to a purely voluntary system. The foundations of that voluntary system must be a Territorial Army, strong enough to enable the regular forces to move about the Empire as circumstances may require, to secure its frontiers, and to maintain peace and order within them; strong enough also if, in the passage of time, 'new dangers of the most serious kind were again to confront us, to secure us the breathing space necessary, to enable tho full strength of all the peoples of the Empire to be organised for its defence. "It is the intention of tho military authorities to link up the regular and Territorial Armies in the closest ties of comradeship, sharing, in peace, as they did in the war, the honours and traditions of famous regiments, sharing also"' in those manly sports and competitions which will form a feature of increasing importance in tho life of a soldier during the years of peace, and in which the Territorial Army 'will be asked to take an active part. "The formation of a volunteer Citizen Army is indispensable to tho freedom and the safety of the Empire. No mora valuable proof of our peaceful strength, and of the soundness of our national life and character, could bo given to the world than the creation of such an army by such methods at such a time. It will testify that those good comrades who bore the brunt and burden of the war, and who are now trained and experienced soldiers, have not wearied in- their country's cause, and that the spirit of patriotic endeavour is still strong in the young manhood of the nation." ,