POST-WAR ARMY

New Zealand Herald, Volume 81, Issue 24876, 24 April 1944, Page 6

POST-WAR ARMY

BANGER OF NEGLECT EFFICIENT FORCE URGED (0.C.) NEW PLYMOUTH. Sunday After the war a, most important responsibility for the civilian population of New Zealand would be to guard against the army being allowed to degenerate to the very low condition to which it had been reduced when the present war broke out, said Mr. R. H. Quilliam, formerly Assistant AdjutantGeneral of the New Zealand military forces, in an address to Victoria League members at New Plymouth. "It is certain that a war-weary world will feel sure that there can never be another war," said Mr. Quilliam, "and in some countries the expense may be considered too great in the face of economic difficulties. I am convinced, howover, that it, would be a very grave mistake to neglect to maintain an efficient home defence force." Critics of army organisation completely failed to remember that when war broke out the permanent staff in New Zealand had been drastically reduced in strength and efficiency, he continued, and personnel had no chance to get the experience necessary to deal with the situation in September, 1939. "ft is quite impossible," Mr. Quilliam said, "to train, equip, accommodate, feed and clothe soldiers without a staff specially trained to do that work. It is essential for us to keep our sword polished." Mr. Quilliam said he was not advocating the maintenance of a highlytrained force, but rather the retention of a staff qualified to organise and instruct. Since the last war, !m continued, extraordinary progress had been made in organisation methods. Lessons taught hv the 1911-18 war had been carefully studied and appreciated with considerable advantage. Mistakes resulted more often from the weakness of the human factor than from faults in the actual system of organisation. CHILDREN'S CAMP

SITE AT PAKURANGA THE GOVERNMENT'S PLANS The Minister of Health, the Hon. A. B. Nordmeyer, and members of the King George V. Memorial Trust Board, inspected the site of the proposed Pakuranga Health Camp; near Pigeon Mountain, during the week-end. They were accompanied by Mr. W. J. Campbell, chairman of the Auckland central council of the New Zealand Federation of Health Camps, and Mrs. B. J. McKendrick, honorary secretary of the council. Mr. Nordmeyer stated later that it had been decided to proceed with the necessary reading, water supply, drainage and fencing in the very near future. Decision concerning the actual buildings to be erected would be postponed until further information was available regarding costs. "Whether the whole scheme is put into operation this year or not, it may be taken for granted that at least portion of the buildings will be erected in time to take children for next summer," added the Minister. It 'was anticipated that the Pakuranga camp would require an expenditure of approximately £60,000. Since the establishment of the trust fund, said Mr. Nordmeyer, new camps had been established at Roxbiugh, Otago. and Oishorno, East Coast, and substantial additions had been made to the Otaki camp and elsewhere.

COAL BRIQUETTES GOVERNMENT EXPERIMENTS TESTS ON T1 IE RAILWAYS (0.c.) GREYMOUTH, Sunday "The Mines Department has been experimenting with the making of briquettes of Blackball and Strongman coal, and at the Huntly carbonisation works about 120 tons of these coals have been made into briquettes," said the Minister of Mines, the Hon. P. C. Webb, in Westport to-night. Contact had been made with n firm in Chicago which was making binderless briquettes and samples of Blackball and Strongman coal were being sent to America to test their suitability for making into binderless briquettes. The briquettes made at Huntly had less binder than the usual household briquettes and tests had been conducted on the railways to ascertain the suitability of the fuel for railway purposes, added the Minister. The tests had not yet been completed, but it was understood the results were likely to be favourable. Further investigations would be made into the suitability of the coal for making briquettes for domestic use. Inquiries were also being made in America and England for the various types of plant suitable for the work. PETAIN'S BIRTHDAY HEAD OF FRENCH STATE Marshal Henri Philippe Retain, Head of the French State at Vichy, is SS to-day. As a soldier of France he achieved fame in the last war, especially at the defence of Verdun in 1916. This success was followed by his appointment as commander-in-chief of the French armies on the Western Front in 1917. In the year of victory, to which he contributed in full measure by his leadership, he became a Marshal of France and after a difficult period in suppressing a Moroccan revolt, he was appointed a member of the Higher Council of Defence in 1931, later entering the Doumergue Cabinet as Minister of War. At. the time of the French collapse in 1940 Marshal Petain was Ambassador to Spain, and lie returned to unoccupied France to become eventually the head of the Vichy Government. At no time while in office lias he indicated the slightest, sympathy with the aims of the Allied Nations or encouragement of those of his compatriots who were prepared to challenge the German oppressors. Even among collaborationists in his own country his prestige is said to be waning.