THE BRITISH ARMY

Evening Post, Volume CXVII, Issue 49, 27 February 1934, Page 9

THE BRITISH ARMY

FIELD FOR GOOD MEN

EMPIRE'S POLICE FORCE

NOT ENOUGH RECRUITS

(From "The Post's" Representative.) • LONDON, January 23.

At a conference with Press repre-| lentatives at the War Office the Adjut-int-General (General Sirr Cecil Bomer,). jxplained that the. number of youths presenting themselves for the Army ;oday had Deon falling off v The present weekly intake; is not sufficient to provide the ■7000::Tecraits still needed :>y the .end*of March, ii the total of 27,000 for the' recruiting year is to be ittained. ', . ...'■■■ ~■■'■,-.. . .'••. ■ General Eoinef attributed this decline first and foremost to, the gratifying in: crease in : employment in the country generally.'; As possible '.' contributory causes he mentioned the belief that .the Army had all ; the ; recruits it needed; the war-time f all .in. thejbirth-iate, now beginningl to;- make-: itself felt; the - reluctance of the War Office to reduce, the physical standards now required of the Army recruit;" and antirwar ''.antiArmy propaganda. :'■ . / ' The' British Army of today, declared ■ the General,, is a keen fighting instru- \ ment, the ', more efficient because it is • composed .of men .who [ are not only physically fit but have to :conform to 1 definite moral and educational stand' ' ards. These standards will ' not be ' lowered, but' the task of making good ' the gaps,in the, Army caused by from | 27,000. to .30,000 men passing into : the [ Beserve each. year is rendered difficult 1 by reason of /the low physical quality lof many wouid-be: recruits. Over 52 per cent.. of the men presenting them- | selves,for enlistment do riot, come up.to r the, physical standard. ."/'"' ■::■ i EMPIRE POLICE TOROE. t Army was Very' small,' compara- ■ tively speaking-^—extraordinarily small , when one considered the size of the , Empire;' and it existed only to protect I the. lives and • prop'eftx Of- the Empire. , It.was,' in fact, a police'force, and if s the well-meaning .but: wrong-headed ■ people7 who clamoured for reduction of i. the Army c'6uld visualise what London ; would be like;if its police force were ' taken away.for even 24 hours, he be-j i licved that they.would perhaps appreci- . ate .the consequences to the Empire if ) the Army -was still further, reduced, i The Adjutant-General mentioned some ■ 20 operations! in which the Army had : been engaged since the end of the Great ■ War—operations; conducted with vno i other, object than that of preventing other persons from doing damage to our own citizens;''. , ; ',- ''".■■',' '"■'< There was no place in tMe Army, Sir ' Cecil Eomer: said, for the stupid and dulllboy. The Army today madc^'its ■ appeal to the,' boy with educational ■ qualifications, and,where these did not ■ come lip. to the Army standard there • were excellent, facilities in the Army to .make .good their deficiencies. : Today, they had a greater competitor in the employer of industry. That was a matter for congratulation, but he was confident that if only the young men of! the nation could be made acquainted' with the advantages and opportunities offered by the Army and the endeavours now successfully made'to return them to civil, life as skilled workers, the Army would not suffer at any time from a shortage of personnel. Three-quarters of the men in the Army today, the Adjutant-General said, were teetotallers.'! Rudyard Kipling's three soldiers ..(privates Mulvaneyj Ortheris, and Learoyd) had served their time.' ; The" old "beer-swilling" soldier had gone for good. The canteen was more of a social club, where tha/ soldier-atudent could improve his mind and was • given every facility for doing so, while in the sports field, for a small contribution, ho.could get all.the games he desired. Sport was an integ-ral-part of the soldier's training.