ARMY PUBLICATION

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 78, 11 March 1943, Page 6

ARMY PUBLICATION

CURRENT AFFAIRS BULLETIN FIRST PAMPHLET ISSUED One of the major activities of the Army Education and Welfare Service, the provision pf a suitable and interesting discussion course in topical questions of importance, was begun this week in the South Island with the distribution of the first “Current Affairs Bulletin.” The pamphlets, which will be issued regularly by the service, are intended to provide background for current affairs discussion periods, now included in the Army training schedule.

The first bulletin deals with the war in the Pacific, and a note says the next will deal with New Zealand’s population problem, caused by the failure of the present rate of natural increase to do more than barely maintain a stationary population.

The pamphlet, in addition to traversing briefly the Pacific situation, contains notes for the guidance of the officers who are to lead the discussions. The officers are told that they are not expected to be experts on current affairs and advised not to “bluff.” They are told that if they do not know the answer to a question to admit it and get the answer from the Army Education information service before the next discussion.

Officers are expected to open each discussion with a talk, which, it is emphasised, should not be a lecture, and the bulletin gives a , specimen summary of a type suggested as likely to be of most interest to the men. Radio news , and commentaries and newspapers are recommended as sources of topical incidents with which to illustrate these talks. At the conclusion of discussions officers are expected to summarise the main points which have emerged. The use of special knowledge some of the men may have, by getting them to give the opening talks on some topics, is advised.

INFORMAL ATMOSPHERE Officers are advised to encourage an informal atmosphere during discussions. The men should be comfortably seated and allowed to smoke. When the introductory talk is over, the bulletin points out, encouraging discussion may be difficult. For this reason questions raised by the bulletin are included and men can be told off to. introduce them if the discussion lags. “Just as you can’t demonstrate weapon-training without weapons, so you will find it difficult to get your men to grasp the thread of a discussion on, say, ‘Strategy in the Pacific’ without maps or rough sketches to illustrate your talk,” says the pamphlet. “The maps have been deliberately simplified so that they can easily be reproduced on blackboards, or even on the ground with a stick, with stones to illustrate islands, etc. A little time and ingenuity is well spent.” The pamphlet says that shortage of paper necessitates economy in distribution, but that as many n.c.o.’s and men as are interested in the bulletin should be given an opportunity of getting hold of it.

The first bulletin, which is simply and clearly written, traces the events leading to the Pacific war from the beginning of the Japanese rise to power in Asia, through the advantages gained by alliance with Great Britain, the concession obtained at the Washington Conference, and the effect of economic pressure on Japan, to the attack on Pearl Harbour. Strategy in the Pacific and the nature of the peace to follow the war are touched on briefly. Two maps, a diagram, and a table, all in simple form, illustrate aspects of the text, and at the end are given suggestions for reading on the subject.