THE LEGION OF FRONTIERSMEN

Press, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 27046, 22 May 1953, Page 6

THE LEGION OF FRONTIERSMEN

Service To Community Main Purpose FORMATION AFTER BOER WAR

Mr K. H. H. Raddon, who was recently elected officer commanding the Christchurch squadron of the Legion of Frontiersmen, hopes that by the beginning of next year he will have under his command a strong body of men who will be of some service to the community when the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh visit Christchurch. To be of service at both a local and national level is a fundamental purpose of the legion.. Its founder, Captain Roger Pocock, who at one time served in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, saw after the years of the South African War a need for keeping together men who had served the British Empire and who would be of value to it in the event of any further national emergency. His vision materialised in the legion, which was formed in London on Christmas Eve, 1904. Its first commander was Colonel D. P. Driscoll, D. 5.0., who as officer in command of the Driscoll scouts in the Sbuth African War had earned the reputation of “king of scouts.” The movement soon spread through the Empire and beyond its boundaries. In some foreign countries where its members do not wear the uniform that closely resembles that of the Canadian Mounted Police, a small badge is worn in the lapel. A group was in existence in Christchurch before World War I, and Mr Raddon reformed it in 1932. Before World War II it was becoming -in creasingly active and there were 40 men on parade on Anzac Day, 1939. Today it has about 28 men on its books.

“The legion is a voluntary self-sup-porting body, a great patriotic brotherhood with no political creed but the Empire,” said Mr Raddon. ‘‘We are not militant war-seekers but men who will be ready should the occasion arise.” A part of the squadron’s activities consists of normal military training, but in Christchurch recently the numbers of frontiersmen have been so small that this phase has been restricted. However, its members have been freely available to help in any way possible local voluntary organisations. The uniforms of its members have been seen in the Christchurch Cathedral at Empire *Day services, it has helped the Returned Services’ Association, the Red Cross Society, the Navy League, and many other bodies.

In England membership of the legion had been restricted to men who have served in the forces and in the Merchant Navy, and to those who can provide proof that they have lived for at least three years outside their own country. In New Zealand these qualifications have not been so rigidly enforced. Trained Revolutionaries Mr Raddon has been in the legion since 1927, and has served six times as a commanding officer and four times as adjutant of a squadron. He is well qualified for membership. When only 15 years old as an apprentice on the three-masted barque Vale Royal he “cleared out”, from the vessel at Durban in 1899 and enlisted for service in the South African War, but he was rounded up and brought back to the ship. Later he trained revolutionary forces in Bolivia. The fighting lasted only about three days, and the revolutionaries had their man at the head of affairs. He also worked in a copper mine 9000 feet up in the Andes, drove a crane for a dock construction company at Buenos Aires, taught ih an English school at Santiago, and was a secretary of the Young Men’s Christian Association in Valparaiso. When the war broke out in 1914 he immediately worked his way 16,000 miles back to England, where he joined the King Edward’s Horse, Ist Canadian Cavalry Brigade. He was wounded in France and after discharge at the end of 1916 he came to New Zealand. He again tried to enlist for overseas service. but was rejected on medical grounds. He was subsequently attached to the Royal New Zealand Artillery. Before the outbreak of World War II Mr Raddon again volunteered for service, and when war broke out he was called up with the National Military Service. For four years he served with the Royal New Zealand Air Force at Harewood. The Aircraft Repair Section of No. 3 Repair Depot, Harewood, presented Mr Raddon with an address “in appreciation of the devoted service rendered by him.” Mr Raddon says that the years he spent in countries outside the British Empire taught him to value the Union Jack and the British way of life for all its weaknesses. It is a reason why he is a stalwart tit the legion. Five out of New Zealand’s seven Victoria Cross winners in World War I were members of the legion, he said, and Sir Ernest Shackleton and Captain R. F. Scott were among its members. General Smuts had joined, saying he was proud to belong to a body of men who always did their duty.