A.N.Z.U.S. warning parallels 1938 revolt

Press, 12 October 1985, Page 6

A.N.Z.U.S. warning parallels 1938 revolt

The warning delivered this week by a goup of former defence chiefs contains several parallels with what became known as the colonels’ revolt of 1938. Both incidents involved groups of men who had attained high rank in the Armed Forces, who openly criticised the defence policies of a Labour Government, and who released their statements through the news media after repeated — and unsuccessful — apEhes to Government ters.

The four colonels behind the 1938 revolt were dismissed for publicly questioning New Zealand’s preparedness to meet a war which they were convinced would result from the growing discontent in Europe. The officers involved Colonels C. R. Spragg, N. L. Macky, A. S. Wilder, and F. R. Gambrill — had long and distinguished service records.

They each commanded unite of the Territorial Force, which at that time made up the bulk of the Army. In 1938 there were more than 7000 Territorials and only .510 Regular soldiers. The colonels knew they were putting their positions on the line.

“We would like the people of New Zealand to realise that the gravity of the situation is such that we feel all personal considerations must be put aside if we are to carry out our duty to our

country as citizens and soldiers,” they said in their joint statement of May 19, 1938.

Colonel Gambrill admitted a few weeks later that the four had adopted an unorthodox method of expressing their opinions, and realised before making the statement that they must pay a penalty. Reaction to the statement, and the subsequent dismissals, was varied. The Labour member of Parliament for Hamilton, Mr C. A. Barrel, thought the Minister of Defence had been too soft on the “rebels.”

“He should have stripped them of their peacock feathers and put them into civilian clothes ... if those colonels had been in Russia they would have been given 12 hours to prepare for that long journey from which none returns.”

Mr John A. Lee, private secretary to the Prime Minister, Mr Michael Savage, said the colonel's statement was invalid because most of the signatories were prominent for their antiLabour political activities. A Hamilton military historian, Dr Laurie Barber, noted in a 1977 article in the “Law Journal” that the colonels had powerful connections in the Opposition National Party. Support for the colonels came from as far away as Britain, where General Sir William Ironside, who later became Chief of the Imperial General Staff, con-

gratulated the officers on their courageous stand. Territorial soldiers in several centres considered resigning in protest against the colonels’ dismissal. Newspaper editorials hailed the colonels as “patriots who, with their eyes open, preferred the more courageous course of sacrificing themselves in an attempt to save the country.” Dr Barber said the

“rebels” were considered ! heroes by most New Zealan- , ders, who were incensed by 1 their treatment J The Government’s real- i isation that the colonels had ' been right did not result in ' their immediate reinstate- < ment. The revolt did, how- | ever, provoke the public to I demand that the Territorial j Army be given more men, t equipment, and pay. Only two of the colonels ! — Macky and Wilder — J were eventually fully rein- ■ stated. Both served in World War H, the latter rising to the rank of major-general. Colonel Gambrill persistently refused active command but served in New Zealand as a Home Guard group director. Colonel Spragg died in October, 1939, after an illness accentuated by the strain of the affair.