BUILDING AN ARMY

Dominion, Volume 35, Issue 6, 2 October 1941, Page 6

BUILDING AN ARMY

General Puttick On Sudden Expansion REPLY TO CRITICS “Entirely Wrong Approach” By Some “I would like to say a word or two about what has been happening in this country while I have been away. Admittedly, I do not know a great deal about it, but I have heard from friends who are wellmeaning that there is a tremendous job here, and that I would almost have to be a miracle worker to remedy appalling mistakes made. That is all very well. I think a proper appreciation of New Zealand’s problem is: Don’t look for mistakes, but rather count your blessings.”’ This statement was made by Major-General E. Puttick, D. 5.0., Chief of the General Staff, during an address to the New Zealand Club when he was their* guest yesterday.

When it was inquired what this country had achieved and what were the conditions, added General Puttick. he would give a reminder of the background to the picture—which was between the end of the last war and the beginning of this. It was not a political argument, as all parties were involved in this period. The armed forces, and particularly the army, had not been anybody’s favourite, speaking both individually and collectively. They were regarded as an unnecessary nuisance, receiving very little support. General Puttick said he would like to pay a tribute to the officers, N.C.O.’s aud men who had held the territorial force together during these doldrum years. Task of Sudden Expansion. He did not say it was the fault of auy political party that attention had not been devoted during this period to defence, but lie did mention it because of the difficulties it created when a war suddenly occurred, like the present one, requiring a tremendous expansion of military effort. There were not available the necessary number of trained staff officers, yet home defences had been manned within a few hours of the outbreak of war, an expeditionary force, with a great many officers of the best type, had been sent overseas, aud the wonder of it was that it had been so successful. The Expeditionary Force had been a very worthy successor to the New Zealaud Division which fought in 1914-18. Meanwhile, forces had been sent to Fiji, necessarily breaking into the organization of reinforcements for the Expeditionary Force in Egypt. Men did not grow on mulberry bushes, but the reinforcements had been there to fill the gaps wheu the New Zealanders returned from Greece and Crete. Camps Second to None.

“Camps second to none in the world, providing the maximum of comfort for men during the most vulnerable period when they break off from civilian life to the more exposed and strenuous conditions of camp life, have been built in New Zealand," said General Puttick. “I have yet to find a system, no matter how favourable its background, in which you cannot find places where the wheels creak and groan, and so you will also find it in the future. That is not to say that one regards things going wrong with complacency. Neither is it a question of finding a target for wit. Things which might even be ridiculous are bound to happen. “I mention these things because I do feel that certain people I have met have got an entirely wrong approach to the problem,” said General Puttick, who added that officers and N.C.O.’s with neither the necessary training nor experience had had to fill responsible positions in home defence, but they were doing a good job, using their common sense and achieving results. Shortly a staff college would be started, and it would produce officers to enable the necessary improvements for the work to be carried out thoroughly well.