DEFENCE PREPARATIONS

New Zealand Herald, Volume 78, Issue 24156, 24 December 1941, Page 4

DEFENCE PREPARATIONS

Sir, —One of the most revealing items of news in Tuesday's Hkhald is contained in a cabled extract from the Daily Telegraph which says, inter alia: "There is a growing tendency iri certain quarters to pretend that the Japanese war does not really matter and can safely be" left for attention after Germany has been finished off." This attitude must surely come as a tremendous shock to all of us in the Pacific. With Singapore gravely threatened, we are now more directly menaced than at any other time iri the history of pur Dominion, and faced with the possibility of having to rely solely upon ourselves for defence it is imperative that the country be placed upon a 100 per cent war basis immediately. • Mr. Jones assures us that if the Japanese come here they will get a surprise, but one may be pardoned for recalling that this phrase was used by both Britain and America before Japan brought war to the Pacific. The present indication is that, if the Japanese have indeed been surprised, such surprise has been occasioned only by the ease with which they have gained their objectives! How, then, are we to prepare our defences? Firstly, by recalling overseas New Zealand troops and airmen and thus providing ourselves with a

nucleus of armed forces which have had actual experience in modern warfare. Secondly, by training every fit man between the ages of 18 and 50 to take an active part in the defence of his country should the occasion arise. Thirdly, by "utilising our womanpower for munition making and every possible form of service which will facilitate the release of men to do the actual fighting. Fourthly, by amassing and storing petrol and oil sufficient to last the country—and especially its fighting forces —for 12 months or more. Fifthly—and this is of paramount importance—by securing vast supplies of the munitions of war. Buy, borrow or beg from whatever sources they may be available guns, machine-guns, sub-machine-guns and rifles, and, above all, tanks and aeroplanes. Any soldier who has seen active service will'confirm that the only defence against enemy air attack is fighter aircraft, and these and bombers are urgently required by us in their hundreds. It is only by taking such measures as these immediately that we will be able to meet an attack upon ourselves with confklence i in our ability and power to repel it. Britain turned herself into a vast fortress, and if we do the same, then, and only then, can we truly say that "the Japanese will get a surprise if they come hero." H. F. Harris.