HOME GUARD PARADE

Press, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23812, 4 December 1942, Page 6

HOME GUARD PARADE

Sir, —I wonder at the obtuseness displayed in your Tuesday editorial in which you criticise ceremonial parades and parade-ground drill. The reason for these was given in “The Press” a few days previously by an officer attached to trainees for overseas. He said that parade-ground drill was necessary to give the soldier a smart appearance when on leave in order to impress the civilians with his efficiency. Surely it is more important for the civilians to be impressed than for the soldier to be suitably trained to kill a few miserable Japanese. After all. one must go about these things in the right manner, and surely it is more meritorious to suffer defeat or die with one’s chest out and one’s chin tucked in than to win victories or avoid death by ducking and crawling about in an unsoldierly attitude.— Yours, etc.. INDIGNANT. December 2, 1942.

Sir, —As you are aware, all the battalions of the Christchurch Home Guard are having a ceremonial parade at Hagley Park on Sunday afternoon. I know that the North Battalion is to parade at Elmwood Park at 9 a.m. on Sunday morning, spend the morning drilling, and then march to Hagley Park for the afternoon parade. As most of the guardsmen are not young, I maintain that a good majority of them will be foot weary after drilling all morning and then marching to Hagley Park; and will therefore not be at their best for the afternoon ceremonial parade. Further, will the older men be feeling fit for their civilian jobs on Monday morning?— Yours, etc., SPIRIT WILLING, FLESH WEAK. December 3, 1942.