THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 1938 DEFENCE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22961, 12 February 1938, Page 12

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 1938 DEFENCE

Idealists made the League of Nations and set up its system. Probably the great majority of those who grasped that idealism V.ave been forced by the logic of event.3 to become realists. War in Abyssinia, Spain and China, to say nothing of incipient rebellion in Palestine, the radio propaganda of various countries, and intensive arming by nations whose spokesmen still proclaim the gospel of peace, is behind the recovered realism. Hence Britain spends hundreds of millions on armament. Most of the money, so far, has been spent in expanding the naval and air forces. In the immediate future a colossal sum is to be expended in mechanising the army. But by comparison with the land forces of the leading continental countries, those of Britain and the Dominions are absurdly small. The regular army of 1914 was pathetically small for the task to which it was committed "contemptible" was the Kaiser's term for it. But it proved to have an efficiency that multiplied its power, judged by numerical standards, and standing beside the vast legions of France, performed a vital task while the civilian forces of the Empire

were marshalled on an expanding system. It -would be folly, however, to imagine that in these days history will repeat itself in that respect. Swifter will come the initial blow in another war, and it will be much more devastating. Such devastation may disorganise every service required for the building of the great second line of: land forces. With a mass of machine guns and tanks replacing thousands of bayonets, the striking power of the new army will be much superior to that of the army of 1914, but the counter will be there on the enemy side. New weapons always meet comparable defence.

For a long time there has been a popular idea—popular because it seemed to reduce the civilian burden of war —that the machine would compensate for lack of numbers in another war between Powers equipped in the modern manner. But nothing learned from the wars in Spain and China disproves the contention that to carry attack to a decisive issue, land forces -must be used. Ground must be occupied. Madrid or Nanking or, for that matter, London or Berlin, may be bombed into ruins; their streets may be saturated with gas; their transport may be paralysed; their water and sanitation services may be destroyed. But without land forces they cannot be occupied, and unless they are occupied the ground they cover will be merely part of a no-man's land, a few thousand acres of wreckage of no pivotal purpose. To have strategic importance cities where railways and arterial roads converge, where political power is based* where all things essential in an army headquarters exist, must !be ociupied and held by infantry, I inrf-i- „ *>vMch digs trenches, carries ! rs&). raid' l.rtycnet and some hand gfeuadrtb, which clears wreckage, restores services, builds dumps of everything "from steel rails to iron rations, lays telephone wires, and generally establishes a base for further operations. Warships may blockade enemy ports and provide the most perfect system of convoy for troops and matierials, aircraft may overwhelm eneqay air forces, and do their terrible be3t, but the soldier on foot, no matter how he is supported by the machine,, is as essential in the field as is the man in the factory where the machines and munitions are made. This week Auckland has seen some of the mechanised units of the local forces. The talks about them through loud speakers have aroused the interest of many potential soldiers. Here, as in the Air Force, the machine has its particular attraction. But the fact remains that the other essential branches of the defence forces have little appeal to th-3 body of youth. In New Zealand notiiing whatever is. being done to balance the army by building up the infantry and mounted rifles units. ; the authorities are taking the easy, spectacular way, although the experts must in their heart of hearts realise that mechanisation progres- ! sively diminishes in power with the reduction of the numbers and strength of the land forces. It must be realised that the display of the mechanised units is mere windowdressing. Unfortunately the Government is quite prepared to try to delude the public with it. The authorities must, sooner or later, como to grips with this question. After all the tumult and shouting over machines of land and air, land fc-rces must be created. And every other m<3ans of building defensive power must be exploited. In Auckland, which has its hundreds of young yachtsmen, there is great scope for building a naval reserve outside the official naval reserve. Britain has begun to develop this power. Two years ago the First Lord of the Admiralty, in announcing the formation of this new reserve, said: "The Admiralty has long been aware that there is a large body of men who are interested in yachting and other seafaring pursuits and who, though they are ineligible through age or place of residence or are unable through lack of time to join the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, are yet anxious to use their experience of the sea in the defence of their country in time of war." "Use their experience" it a good slogan for a Minister of Defence. In New Zealand it seems to have no meaning.