BRITAIN'S DEFENDERS

Evening Post, Volume CXXVII, Issue 102, 3 May 1939, Page 11

BRITAIN'S DEFENDERS

OVER A MILLION

LIABILITY TO SERVE

(By Telegraph—Press Association —Copyright.)

LONDON, May 2.

Speaking on Britain's new defence measures at the annual meeting of the Newspaper Press Fund yesterday, the Minister of Defence, Lord Chatfield, said that, taking into consideration the recently announced plans for military training, Britain has more than 1,000,000 defenders without calling up the reserves or the civil defence services. The men called up under the Military Training Bill will be enlisted as militiamen. According to the text of the Bill the men may alternatively ask for admission to the Navy or the Air Force. Employers, under penalties for default, must reinstate the men after the six months' training period in conditions no less favourable than when the men joined up. The Bill enables rules to be drawn up to prevent the discharge of men who will shortly become eligible for military service. Registration will be carried out by I the Ministry of Labour. Persons failing to register are liable to a fine of £5. Questions of pay and allowances to dependants are not covered in thej Bill, and these presumably will be the subject of regulations to be issued by the King by Order in Council.

In addition to the Bill applying to Northern Ireland, citizens of Eire are also liable, also citizens of any other Dominion if they are ordinarily resident in Great Britain and not already in a Dominion force.

The Reserves and Auxiliary Forces Bill enables reserves to be called up more speedily than at present.