MILITARY RESERVE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23181, 29 October 1938, Page 12

MILITARY RESERVE

A start is being made by the defence authorities in the formation of a National Military Reserve consisting of 1000 returned soldiers. This should prove to be an excellent piece of organisation. Home defence, not service overseas, is in view. The members of the reserve, men from 40 to 50 years of age, needing no initial training for guard duty and capable of undertaking highly important but not necessarily strenuous work, would constitute a most valuable unit. It would be surprising if, in case of an emergency, they did not infuse a spirit of confident enthusiasm into all the rest. Their experience, not forgotten in spite of intervening years, would give them a flying start in the doing of essential things and enable them to assist, without timidity or confusion, in getting these things done quickly. The seniority disqualifying them for arduous toil would be a special qualification for this indispensable sort of aid. Their attachment here and there to official staffs, with whom would rest authority and responsibility over all organised units, should serve to expedite instruction of these. As a practical expedient this plan, indeed, commends itself to everybody acquainted with service conditions. Enrolment for such duty ought to proceed apace. Indeed, it has actually begun, for the Minister of Defence is able to report that already many offers of assistance have been received, with indications of the various capacities in which the inquirers might be employed. This bit of national mobilising may not seem to be great when gauged by numbers, but in quality it can be trusted to be second to no other activity.