BRITAIN BUILDS AN ARMY

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 103, 28 October 1939, Page 11

BRITAIN BUILDS AN ARMY

Those enthusiasts who were anxious to see the Dominion send men abroad at short notice to help to defend the Empire against Hitler may find some comfort in the fact that Britain has as many m^n as she needs at this time. One of the Premier's first pronouncements during the war mentioned the fact that there was no need, under existing law, for thi Government to seek to build up a voluntary army as it did in 1914. This, of course, is due to the fact that there is now conscription in Britain and that men there can be called up for service just as in any Continental country. In the last few weeks the fact has emerged that Britain has more men than she is able to equip and train. The War Office an-. nounced this fact and followed it up by refusing to mobilise any men above the age of 20. Men who had lost their jobs and who are above the minimum age were seeking to enlist last month, but were refused on account of the fact that plentiful supplies of recruits were already at the disposal of the War Office. Now, from cabled news, it Appears that there has been provision made for these, men to, volunteer and be incorporated in the military machine. A few weeks ago the men were being told that they must wait until their class was mobilised.