BRITAIN’S ARMY

Hokitika Guardian, 12 March 1938, Page 5

BRITAIN’S ARMY

NOTABLE SPEECH BY MINISTER OF WAR. (United Press Association —By Electric Tele graph—Copyright). - : ■ RUGBY, March 10. • f'A'"notable speech in the House of Ooriimons on ,the ; Army Estimates, by the War Secretary, Mr Hore Bclislia, ' contained a survey’of the leading problems of army organisations, which iir,o engaging the attention of the Government, and the announcement of important changes, as well as a large number of improvements affecting service conditions to all ranks. Mr Hore Belisha said that from the troops raised at home, under the voluntary system, there could be mobilised, in' an emergency,. over five hundred thousand soldiers for action in various fields of imperial responsibility. In reference to the increase of those seeking enlistment, lie asked if it were realised that the applicants were trying .to . join; the army at the rate of neatly sixty, thousand annually—a to-tal-fat in excess of the country’s requirements. -Such., difficulties as confronted - the Government were not of man-power, but of its correct organisation. ■ >- '■ ' jThe Hottse listened’attentively to the Minister’s disclosures of a variety of proposals, 1 ranging from those affecting higher strategy to those relating to the smallest details of a soldier’s routine, and including inter-departmental re-examination of the Cardwell system, reorganisation of divisions, based on the progress of motorisation and mechanisation, reorganisation of artillery, enlargment of the numbers and responsibilities of warrant officers, reconsideration of factors determining service, in addition to the short term as at present, designed to supplement the;measures already taken to make the army a career for those who wish to adopt it, modernisation .of barracks, . improved living conditions for • soldiers, and increased* financial .benefits in the war both of family allowances, and increments of • pay,’ affecting periods.‘of : completed service. 1 ,' ; ! . After ' discussion of the role of tHe army, firstly, in home defence—in which the? ground defences against air attacks are how first: in'priority—and, secondly,In’ the ’'discharge of overseas commitments for the defence' of British territories and bases the Minister' came to its third role, as a strategic reserve, end under this head, its use in co-opera-tion; in,.defence of territories of allies. He said: “A mere description of the role of the British Army, disclosing how under stress-, of. new methods of warfare, fresh allocation of our iorces is called, for affpctihg.on one hand their ; distribution, and. on the other, their respopsibilities at home, emphasises how , the factors in the situation have altered since 1914. 'The extent to which we might be required or expected to send or have available assistance for an ally, and what, form it should take must he related to these considerations. It must be remembered that support on land is not the only support we can offer.” i. There followed an account of- the proposed reorganisation of divisions,and of artillery with the aim of providing a thoroughly flexible organisation, and as regards artillery, greater tactical flexibility and increased facility for control of fire. There were to he i two types of division, and varieties within types. (The first- type—motorised j division based on light machine-gun— ; when used for internal, security operations, such as the present operations in j Palestine, might consist of six hattal- J jons, with the necessary auxiliary troops j , for maintenance and communications, ! hut when used for war might consist of . nine battalions supported by. artillery , and other arms according to heed. These battalions would each possess fifty Bren guns, of which a proportion would he borne in armoured carriers, so they would, in fact, he light machine-gun battalions. - The second tvpe would he , a mechanised armoured division based oil tanks. . 1 ‘ PAY OP ARMY PRIVATES. LONDONT, March 11. The Minister or War (Mr L. Hore, Belisha) has announced increases in | pnv for private soldiers amounting to £850,000 vearlv. and marriage allowances of £360.000 yeariv. The privates’ pay will be increased, by three pence at the end of the first] ( voar’s service: n. further three pence : at the end of the second year, and furtTieV increases at later intervals. The Minister also announced that , Sir Tsidor Salman, described as “the director of a famous catering organisation”. had consented to become honorary catering adviser to the Army, ard the present nrrangemnts for cooking would he reviewed. MODERN MOTOR UNITS. RUGBY, March 10. < Mr Fori- Belisha-said that a nrooor4ion of heavy machine-gun battalions was to he kent, as corns troops—one per division—the rest boino- converted to light-machi"e-"un battalions to form the •nucleus of the motorised di”i- , «ion<*. The .anti-tank pun. formerly I handled hv the Tioevv taliong, would. in future, he manned by divisional artillery. < The - :Minf s+j>r . pn»-r>Tiri r ‘Pft the ro-nr. 1 ganisatirm of the field an+illerv of the [ , regular! armv on a basis of a twelve gun- j j fire nniqn, instead of six—implying an 1 organisation .comprising the brigade M headquarters and two fire units, each Df three four gun batteries. 1

The total number of guns normally supporting the division w’ould not be affected, but with fewer personnel and more centralised control, the fire power would he better concentrated. The principles underlying the proposed reorganisation were summed up by Mr Hore Belisha in a striking passage: ‘‘The strength of the Navy is assessed in ships, and not. in personnel, that of the Air Force in squadrons, and not in ground staff. Following this line of thought the strength of the modern army is based not only on individual, but rather on fire units, w’hich combine fire-pow’er and mobility. Why, alone in the Army should the heads he counted, and fire-pow’er and mobility discounted?” he asked. The amount of fire producing weapons w’as best revealed, the Minister thought. In fact, the provision of over £43,000,000 for this purpose in the present estimates w'as greater than, the whole army estimates, including pay pension in 1934. Coming to what he called “the more human side” of the description of the cfTanges proposed or contemplated, in the conditions of the army itself, the Minister announced the progressive elimination from the soldiers’ drill of all superfluous postures requiring rehearsal, and from his kit, all superfluous gadgets requiring polish. The most important change announced was'the introduction of t-lie rank of Warrant Officers (class 3), which would increase the prospects of other ranks and effect a reduction in the number of subaltern officers and aid the more rapid promotion for all officers. DEFENCE OF DOMINIONS. SYDNEY, March 11. The “Herald’s” Canberra correspondent says: The pronouncement of Mr Chamberlain that Britain’s defence poliev w’ill be based on the -principle of “defend Britain first,” is not interpreted in Canberra ns an indication that the Dominions will be throw’ll on their own -resources in an emergency. The general impression is that Mr Chamberlain’s references to oversea defence bases did not apply to- the Dominions. Mr Lyons intends to ask Mr Chain 1 herlain to elaborate his ideas.