HOME GUARD

Grey River Argus, 29 April 1942, Page 6

HOME GUARD

Commenting on the compulsory, enrolment in the Home Guard by age-groups, Mr F. A. Kitchingham, Chairman of the Greymouth E.P.S., said yesterday: ‘T’here is such a disparity between the E.P.S. and Home Guard personnels at Greymouth (1500 E.P.S. and 120 Home Guard), that some men must be transferred from the E.P.S. to the Home Guard. It was useless posting men as wardens and getting them partly trained when they might be taken for the Home Guard. The same thing applied to fire-watchers and first-aid fire-fighters, as well as to other branches of the E.P.S. Some people think that the provision of fire-watchers and special fire-fighting equipment for the business part of the town is merely a scheme to protect property, leaving people to look after themselves. Tins is not so, because, a conflagration which destroyed the business part of the town would destroy all those things which would be most needed in emergency, such as foodstuffs, boots and clothing, and bedclothes and bedding, obviously, the hotels hold great quantities of bedding, the loss of which could .well be a calamity. Likewise, all wholesale food stores and most of* the grocers’ shops are in the business area, and they need the best protection in the interests of the whole community.”