The War Preparations in Europe

Dominion, Volume 24, Issue 250, 18 July 1931, Page 20

The War Preparations in Europe

4 4 W1 AT ILITARY service in France,” said Sir Rennell Rodd, M.P., in % / h a recent Commons debate,| “is for one year only, with a %/ |j period during which men are subject to immediate recall of «. V J*, three years. After that they pass into the first line reserve

for 16. years and the Territorial Army for eight years. That is, 28 years’ service in all. With one year’s service, you can imagine, the number of trained men who pass into these reserves.

“Italy has equally striking figures. You’ have there a standing army the term of service of which is now 18 months. There are two classes, one coming and one going, and at certain times of the year there are 200,000 men with the colours and at others 400,000. You have to add to these the twelve rifle regiments of Bersaglierl, the nine Alpine regiments, the Customs guards and 60,000 gendarmerie. In addition to that there is an entirely new force which has grown up with the present regime. The custom

is that boys should enter something very like what our Boy Scouts do, except

that it is very different in one or two essentials.

“They begin at eight and they go on up to 18. At 14 they begin to be trained in the use of the. rifle, which our Boy Scouts are not, and at 18 they pass, in to the national militia, which is at present calculated at about 300,060 strong. The service in that is. from 18 to 55.

“When, you add those numbers to the numbers of the regular army and you see the enormous number of men that pass into the reserve, especially the first three years reserve from which they, like those in France, may be recalled immediately; you will have, without calling in an actuary, some conception of the vast numbers of men trained to arms behind the. actual army at any given moment in the field. I have not spoken of the African army of either of these countries.”