The Southland Times THURSDAY, JUNE 8, 1939. A Citizen Army-Just On Paper?

Southland Times, Issue 23838, 8 June 1939, Page 4

The Southland Times THURSDAY, JUNE 8, 1939. A Citizen Army-Just On Paper?

Although it is now more than a fortnight since the Prime Minister asked New Zealanders to enrol in the national military reserve, the response so far has been disappointing. At the end of the first week the number of those who had offered their services was a little over 3000. On Tuesday, approximately a fortnight after the opening of the campaign, this figure had risen to 5606, so that the rate of enrolment seems to be slackening. It can be assumed, of course, that efforts to influence public opinion on national preparedness will be intensified, although Mr Savage’s recent comment that he had been hoping “the defence and postal officials would not be able to hand out enrolment cards fast enough” suggested that the Government over-estimated its influence with the general public on a question that is essentially non-political. Moreover, the Government has done so much in recent months to convince the people that they have no cause for anxiety over defence that it must not be surprising if there is a continued reluctance to accept the need for active and universal preparation. Even now, while many persons are slowly making up their minds about defence, very little is being done to organize a really effective publicity campaign. If there is to be a trained reserve of 50,000 men the Government will have to build it up far more vigorously than at present. For it is not merely a matter of collecting a list of names and addresses. The men who have offered their services must be given some training in the use of modern weapons and equipment; unless they are taught, as quickly as possible, to know their places and tasks in a nation-wide system the country will still lack effective man-power during an emergency. A Facade of Preparedness

Unfortunately there is no evidence that the Government is organizing the new military reserve in a spirit of urgent and efficient preparation. During his broadcast appeal for recruits the Prime Minister said that 5000 men with previous military experience would be selected as a reserve to the territorial units. Two days later the Chief of the General Staff amplified this statement. The offer of service, ’ said Major-General Duigan, is for home defence. “It involves no obligation to carry out training in peace time, though we are going to select 5000 of those who offer and give them an opportunity, if they so desire, to carry out a certain amount of refresher training now in peace.” He also explained that volunteers for the military reserve will be free to ask for a change of service, or even to withdraw their offer when an emergency arises. “Except for the 5000 specially chosen for some training in peace, the remainder of the reserve will not be allotted specific tasks beforehand.” These statements are confirmed by the wording of the cards acknowledging offers of service, now being sent to those who have enrolled. It announces that the new reservist has been placed in one of the three classes and advises the recipient that the card “should be retained for productibn in the event of a national emergency.” The meaning of all this is that apart from new recruits in the territorial forces the only men in the country who will receive military training are a few specialists and 5000 reservists selected from the lists now being prepared. In the circumstances it becomes difficult to understand why the Government is asking for 50,000 men, for it is clear that the great majority will remain mere names on cards filed away in an index system. Their value in a time of emergency would be negligible. Modern war presupposes the most careful training and organization. If 50,000 men are to receive their first instruction in the use of weapons when war has already started they can have no chance of attaining any real efficiency by the time their services are likely to be required. If an emergency came suddenly—as is possible in these days of undeclared warfare—they would be unable to perform any vital service, or would be thrust into positions where inexperience might cause a needless waste of life. To make quite sure of an effective resistance to an attacking force it is necessary to have adequate numbers of trained reserves, a population educated to emergency conditions, and an organization which covers the total community. Far from doing anything of this kind, the Government appears to be erecting merely a facade of preparedness, behind which a defence programme of painfully modest dimensions is being carried out in the same old leisurely fashion. Those who found the promise of vigorous action in the Prime Minister’s broadcast speech a fortnight ago may now be forced to admit that the hope was premature. Apathy still prevails.