CITIZEN ARMY

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXII, 13 April 1939, Page 13

CITIZEN ARMY

BIG BRITISH EFFORT TERRITORIAL FORCE 210,000 RECRUITS SOUGHT LONDON, 7th April. Steps have already been taken to provide for the increase in the Territorial Army to 340.000 men announced by the Prime Minister, Mr Chamberlain. Telegrams have been sent to the territorial area commands requesting details of requirements to meet the new, training needs. Mr Chamberlain announced that the Territorial Field Army was to be brought forthwith up to war establishment, and that the war establishment was to be doubled, making 32 divisions available for service overseas in place of the 19 divisions announced by the Secretary for War. Mr Hore-Belisha, four weeks ago. NEARLY HALF A MILLION MEN Accordingly, he said, the Territorial Field Army, which was now on a peace , establishment of 130,000 men, would be raised forthwith to war establishment —an addition of about 40.000 men. The Territorial Field Army so brought up to war establishment, he added, would be doubled, and it would therefore be allotted an establishment of 340,000 The anti-aircraft forces of the Territorial Army are expected shortly to reach 100.000, making a total territorial strength of 440,000. It is agreed that a tremendous recruiting effort in which many popular public figures would take part must be made to enable the Territorial Army to be more than doubled. The Regular Army is still 16.000 short. PROMOTIONS FROM RANKS It is pointed out, however, that the territorial establishment was 272,000 in 1914. and, even when the present objective is attained it will be, in proportion to the population, less than the Australian militia. The War Office announced that as soon as any unit exceeds its establishment it will throw off a cadre of a few officers, non-commissioned officers and specialists, who will begin to form a new unit immediately. The problem of officering new units is being solved largely by promotion from the ranks. This policy is already universal in the anti-aircraft units. The provision of equipment on the

regulars’ scale will require a long effort, but it will be emphasised during the recruiting campaign that rifles are plentiful. INSTRUCTORS LIMITED Major-General A. C. Temper ley, the military correspondent of the “Daily Telegraph,” states that the increase in the Territorial Army is regarded as an interim decision, based probably on the limited quantity of arms and instructors immediately available. He expresses the opinion that it will take many months to equip the new units. The difficulty about instructors, he adds, is due to the fact that retired instructors of the Regular and Territorial Armies are accustomed to outdated arms. It is recalled that Captain B. H. Liddell Hart, the military correspondent of “The Times.” opposed conscription recently on practical grounds. The ultimate efficiency would be impaired, he said, and not assisted, by enlisting

men before adequate equipment with which to train them was available. The keenness of many territorial recruits, he added, was suffering from the lack of equipment, and a still more difficult problem was the provision of efficient instructors.