DEFENCE OF DOMINION

Southland Times, Issue 23512, 19 May 1938, Page 6

DEFENCE OF DOMINION

SENIOR OFFICERS NOT SATISFIED CRITICAL MANIFESTO ISSUED MINISTER TOLD OF “GRAVE STATE OF AFFAIRS” (United Press Association). AUCKLAND. May 18. The view that the statement on defence made at Dargaville by the Minister of Defence (the Hon. F. Jones) is inadequate is expressed by four senior officers of the New Zealand Territorial Force in a manifesto. The officers, all of whom formerly commanded brigades, state: —

“Sensible of the duty cast upon us as senior officers of the New Zealand Territorial Force and of the grave responsibility which we must share in the event of that force being called upon to assist in the defence of this country, we seized the opportunity of exchanging our respective views while attending the recent senior officers’ course at Trentham. We then discovered unanimity of opinion on certain matters affecting the Territorial Force which we had not had an opportunity till then of realizing. “On Friday, May 6, we. were granted an interview with the Minister of Defence (the Hon. F. Jones) when we placed before him our views and ways and means by which we considered this grave state of affairs could be remedied. After a most courteous hearing by the Minister he promised to issue a statement following the meeting. It was then realized that the Minister had not given us any time within which this statement would be issued. We then requested the Chief of the General Staff, Major-General J. E. Duigan, to request the Minister to nominate such a time, but also to intimate to the Minister that we would consider the expiry of two weeks to be an undue delay in the face of what we considered to be an urgent state of affairs. We further agreed that if such a statement was not issued within such a period or, if issued, was inadequate to achieve the results desired by us, that we would publish our own considered opinion. Such a statement has now been issued and we consider it inadequate. We therefore make the following statement: — LACK OF SUPPORT “Conscious of the very poor measure of support accorded to the forces by the public, we find it necessary to inform them of our opinions in the hope that the country itself may decide whether or not it requires a territorial army. If it decides that such a force is a necessity, then it must assume the duty of supporting those volunteers who have been endeavouring loyally to preserve the nucleus of a territorial army for many years past, with little or no public assistance. “This action is taken by us solely for the purpose of ensuring that an adequate and efficient land force shall be available for the defence of New Zealand. We claim an intimate knowledge of the problem of our defence and the state of unpreparedness now existing. We realize that as senior volunteer officers on the active list of the Territorial Forces we have a duty to place on record what we believe to be facts: That; the present organization and establishment of the force is insufficient for the defence of New Zealand. That the number of volunteers trained and in training is insufficient to complete the establishment as at present laid down. That the standard of physique and training of the serving volunteers in some cases is such as to render them unsuited for the purposes of expansion of the present organization in time of need. That the morale of the existing volunteers is being sapped by successive reductions in strength and lack of public support. That we fear the disintegration of our present skeleton unless definite support is accorded by the Government and people and assurances are given that the force is desired and will be fostered. That in our opinion the failure of the present volunteer system would not have occurred had the active support of successive governments been accorded our land forces since the inception of the voluntary system. WORK OF PERMANENT STAFF “We are impelled to refer to the splendid and loyal service given by that silent department of our army—the officers of the Staff Corps and the New Zealand Permanent Staff, whose duties have been, and are being, carried out under the most disheartening conditions. Upon their shoulders the blame for failure will assuredly be visited should our forces be called to action. The fault wll not be theirs. “In conclusion, we hesitate to mention the effect of this statement on our own personal positions as military officers. However, we would like the people of New Zealand to, realize that the gravity of the situation is such that we feel all personal considerations must be put aside if we are to carry out our duty to our country as citizen soldiers.” The officers signing the above manifesto are all officers on the active list of the Territorial Forces. They all commanded brigades until the reorganization of last year, when they were retained and posted to the colonels’ list of the force. Of the two other officers on the colonels’ list. Colonel R. C. Milligan is at present in England and Colonel S. D. Mason is not a party to this statement. The officers signing it are:— Colonel C. R. Spragg, who served with the 4th Rough Riders in the South African War, and the Wellington Mounted Rifles in Gallipoli and Palestine. He was commander of the Ist Mounted Rifle Brigade in the northern district and is well known in the Auckland district as a farmer and for his interest in the dairy industry. Colonel N. L. Macky, M.C., A.D.C., who served with the New Zealand Rifle Brigade in the Western Egypt campaign and in .France. He was commander of the Ist Infantry Brigade in the northern district. He is a solicitor and a partner in the firm of Russel, McVeagh, Macky and Barrowclough. Colonel A. S. Wilder, D. 5.0., M.C., A.D.C., who served with the Wellington Mounted Rifles in Gallipoli and Palestine. He was

commander of the 2nd Mounted Rifle Brigade in the Wellington district and is a sheep farmer a* Waipukurau. Colonel R. F. Gambrill. M.C., who served with the Wellington Infantry Battalion in Gallipoli and France. He was commander of the 2nd Infantry Brigade in the Wellington district. He is a solicitor and partner in the firm of Nolan and Skeet, solicitors, Gisborne.