COMRADE SPIRIT

Greymouth Evening Star, 15 August 1942, Page 2

COMRADE SPIRIT

ADVICE TO OFFICERS

SYDNEY, July 9

Seeking to emphasise that mutual confidence and respect between officers and men are all important, an Army pamphlet “Comrades in Arms” has been prepared in Britain under the direction of General Sir Alan Brooke, Chief of the Imperial General Staff. This is reported by the Sydney Sun’s London correspondent. “Never forget for a minute that the men in the ranks are the salt of the earth and deserve the best possible leadership,” is the advice to officers. “Make a salute a greeting between comrades. Always return it properly and. never in an off-hand manner.

'•Be especially punctilious if the soldier is walking with his girl when off parade. Add ‘Good morning,” or, better still, ‘Good morning, Jones.’ “There is quite a lot you can do just with a salute to make a man feel that you are his comrade, besides his officer.”

When one half of a company is digging in the rain and the other half working indoors, an officer should not hesitate to join the diggers. “When you talk to your men say ‘we,’ not ‘you,’ ” continues the pamphlet. “When passing a reproof, say ‘the Company commander says we are a dirty platoon,’ not ‘the company commander says you are a dirty platoon.’ ”