The King’s Tribute To National Service Volunteers

Northern Advocate, 4 July 1939, Page 5

The King’s Tribute To National Service Volunteers

(Received 2 p.m.) LONDON, July 2. King George this afternoon reviewed in Hyde Park 20,000 forces of the National Service from all parts of the country. Mr Chamberlain, broadcasting an appeal to citizens to join national service organisations, read a message from the King, who stated:— “It gave great pleasure to the Queen and myself to witness the Hyde Park march past of the National Service Volunteers. It was a most impressive demonstration of the spirit of service which is everywhere present in the nation today, and shows itself in the determination to make the country ready to meet any emergency, whatever sacrifices and inconveniences are entailed. The Call Answered.

“Our civil defence force is now established. The call has been answered. Volunteers are already at work. I want them to know how much I admire their public spirit, and I want also to express my appreciation of their wives, who are giving up much of their home life to let their husbands spend their evenings in national service.

“I feel sure that the volunteers, whether men or women, will feel rewarded by the consciousness that they are helping to keep their country strong and safe.” Preservation of Peace. “You know that all our preparations are designed not to provoke war, but to preserve peace. We still preserve the hope that the nations may learn to live together in fellowship and harmony.” Britain’s Pledge.

Mr Chamberlain confined his own remarks to the National Service. He said the civil population was now the front line. It was the duty of every citizen to help in defence on the home front, where 1,250,000 volunteers had been added to the defence forces in a few months. The spirit shown was beyond all praise. “We are living in critical and dangerous times,” he said. “We are ourselves a peaceful nation, and desire no quarrels with anyone, but let no one make the mistake of supposing that we are not ready to throw our whole strength into the scale if need be to resist aggression, whether against ourselves or against those whose independence we have undertaken to defend.” A Notable Feature. A notable feature of the parade, which attracted a very large crowd, was that every man and woman was a volunteer. The rally was the first occasion of its kind. Not only were there detachments from the auxiliary forces, the fighting services Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, Territorials, and Royal Aij.’ Force Auxiliaries—but for the first time, the forces of the civil defence branch marched with the fighting -services. 1