PARADES OF HOME GUARD

Press, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23818, 11 December 1942, Page 3

PARADES OF HOME GUARD

DECISION OF CHRISTCHURCH

COMMANDERS

A decision to carry out syllabuses of training already arranged for December was made on Wednesday by Home Guard battalion commanders in Christchurch, following the announcement that hours of training in December, January, and February for Division I men would be eight hours a month.

In a statement after the conference of commanders, the Group Director (Lieutenant-Colonel D. S. Murchison, D.5.0.) said that training programmes for December had already been arranged and it was the desire of the battalions to complete these as far as possible. To do this it had been agreed that every effort would be made to maintain the standard of efficiency displayed in last Sunday’s parade, and it would be the desire of each individual Home Guardsman to do so. To enable this to be done, the commanders concerned decided to carry on with the syllabus already arranged, as most of them had already arranged that training should be diminished during the holiday period. It was felt certain that men would voluntarily attend all parades in all cases where their employment or circumstances permitted them to do -o. This had been the spirit of the Home Guard from the beginning, and that spirit would be continued for so long as it was necessary to maintain an efficient Home-Guard, concluded the statement