Manawatu Evening Standard. FRIDAY, JULY 18, 1941 BRITAIN'S HOME GUARD

Manawatu Standard, Volume LXI, Issue 194, 18 July 1941, Page 4

Manawatu Evening Standard. FRIDAY, JULY 18, 1941 BRITAIN'S HOME GUARD

With the menace of a Nazi invasion still facing England, Britain's Home Guard is being put to the test with exercises on a substantial scale. The most recent attack tested the Home Guard at Birmingham, when a force of 2000 parachute troops "invading" the city at night was held to have been decisively defeated by the defending unit. The manoeuvre was in all respects similar to a Nazi assaidt. There was the "severe air raid," fob - lowed by the "land attack" when . the parachutists, in reality Allied and Itegular Army forces, assailed the city from various directions. There were also Fifth Columnists to help the "enemy," who found that after all Birmingham was not easy to capture. The exercises have proved the value of the training the Home Guard is re- • ceiving. It is only a year old, but as His Majesty the Kiug said on 1 its first anniversary, it has a fine • tradition, for it is in direct line of descent from those bodies, such as the "Militia, trained bands, fencibles, and volunteers" ' which danger to Britain has always called into existence. ! The dark days of last year when the Battle of France was developing in the Nazis' favour, and things were going badly for the Allied forces, called the Home Guard into being. It became apparent as France was going down that the battle might well be carried to Britain's shores, and her soil would have to be defended. Its original purpose was to deal with any attempt at landing by parachute, but the system of training adopted in the subsequent months, and the enthusiasm with which the members, called from all walks in life, invested their duties, have made it capable, in the words of a commentator, of playing a most valuable part in repelling both that and any other kind of invasion, for to an always superb spirit has been added equipment on an increasing scale. The Home Guard in Britain today has a strength of 1,700,000, a magnificent result when the calls upon the nation's man-power are remembered, and while equipment has been one of its major problems deficiencies in this respect have been growing fewer as the months pass. In training, while it is impossible to stage exercises lasting for days, those in which Birmingham has lately figured are giving the men knowledge of the functions they would perform in battle. It was a signal honour for the force to furnish the guard at Bucking- j ham Palace on the anniversary of its formation and to receive the Kinc's congratulations in a special Army Order. It is making an excellent contribution to victory.