LOSS TO HOME GUARD

Southland Times, Issue 24680, 27 February 1942, Page 4

LOSS TO HOME GUARD

EMPLOYEES IN TWO DEPARTMENTS ORDERS TO WITHDRAW Keen disappointment and dissatisfaction has been expressed by a niunber of employees of the Railways and Post and Telegraph Departments, in Southland who have carried out more than a year of training with the Home Guard and who have now received instructions to withdraw from it. The men state, that they* were previously encouraged to join the Home Guard, and after a year of training have reached such a standard of efficiency that they could give useful service for the defence of the country in the event of attack, but they are now told that they must leave the Guard. It was announced earlier this week that railwaymen had been instructed to withdraw from the Guard, but it has since been learned that a similar order applies to officers of the Post and Telegraph Department. Men who are outside the essential sections of their departments consider that they should not be withdrawn from the fighting services. They include mail sorters and railway carpenters and plumbers. The men affected by the departmental orders include some of the most enthusiastic Guardsmen, some of whom are non-commissioned officers in their units. It is felt in the battalions that the withdrawal of the m,en at this stage will have an unfortunate effect on the units should they be called out at short no,tice. They have been training for more than a year and the sudden withdrawal of key men will tend to disorganize the units. Some of the men affected are keen riflmen and have become most useful Guardsmen. Accurate shots are extremely valuable for the class of defence work which the Guard may have to undertake, and their loss will be keenly felt in several units. Not only do such men lose their places in the Home Guard, but they are now compelled to hand over to the authorities their own high-quality rifles, which they have been using during training.