MECHANICAL ARMY

Hawera Star, Volume XLVII, 10 March 1928, Page 5

MECHANICAL ARMY

POSSIBILITIES OF THE FUTURE INFANTRY IN SECOND PLACE. . HIGH OFFICER ENTHUSIASTIC. . BY OAKI.K PRBRS ABSOCI ATT ON —COPY K-lOH'l Received 9.30 a.m. to-dav. LONDON. Jan. 9. Fie Id-Marshal Milne, referring to the mechanisation of the army, -said that :t was impossible not to be thrilled by the possibilities opened up. !Hie Rrit-v-niv has now found something wlii.ih has relegated infantry and horsemen to secondary place in warfare. They will, in future, be merey moppers of the. ground, cleaners, or else go to fight in countries which are motorproof. One absorbing problem of the mechanisation is a question of fuel. DEBATE IN THE HOUSE. LONDON. March 8. Sir L. Worthington-Evans, Secretary for War. said that the mechanical souadron at present consisted of -sixwheeler lorries carrying eight machineguns in peace time and -sixteen in war time. Six-wheelers will also carry find line transport. He hoped, in future to = titute light armoured vehicles foi the six-wheeler lorriesMr J. Lawson said that, compared , ith other nations, the Army estimate was small, but they had so much they in the years after the Great tVai- t-n-at Labour would support the ,-ote because it thought that the Army aught to be efficient in its purpose. Tilt gravest revelation was that only oneJiird cf the men offering ae recruits were found to be physically fit. —A.P.A. and “Sun.” QUESTION OF DISARMAMENT. LONDON, March 8. Ln the Hor.t* of Commons, Mr J - Wheat-lev said that if they could have a demonstration on the floor of tin? Hou.se of a- man being bayonetted there would be less enthusiasm for armaments. Wa-s it all through fear of Russia, which was once a country- leading us to real disarmament. Mr A. Duff Coor-i-r, .replying, said that Mr Wheat'ey’s utterances were irrelevant and out of place. Russia’s disarmament proposal was only intended to make the League of Nations look ridiculous. Everyone wanted peace and disarmament, hut no peace advocate believed that complete disarmament was an ideal within reach. Meantime the Government-’s jxiliey was to make the Army as, small, as efficient and as cheap as possible.