HOME GUARD IN BRITAIN

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 86, Issue 111, 14 May 1942, Page 5

HOME GUARD IN BRITAIN

; NEARLY TWO MILLION MEN I PRAISED BY MF. CHURCHILL London, May 12. I Mr. Churchill, speaking at an inspection of the Palace of Westminster company of the Home Guard, said:— “I know you will not expect me to say I look forward to the occasion when your services will be required, because if such an occasion arose it would certainly expose the Government to serious criticism on other grounds, but should it ever arise 1 am certain we can destroy any enemy who comes in our midst, and that in itself is an additional deterrent against an attempted attack on this famous and long inviolate island.” Mr. Churchill revealed that Brit--1 tain’s Home Guard was nearly 1,750,000 strong, and said the work these men were doing was of great value to the country. When France fell out of the war, Britain was left under ! the threat of invasion while destitute i of an army. While the army was i being reorganised, the Home Guard

man public works official. sprang into existence. Now 1,750,000 men have been trained in the use of arms and accustomed readily and rapidly to come together at any point, their minds fixed on the possibility of contact with the enemy.'The Home Guard was an invaluable addition to the armed forces and an essential part in the effective defence of Britain. Their value was increased by the fact that air-born invasion became more and more possible in modern warfare. In 1940, if the enemy had descended from the sky he would have found only little groups of men with shotguns. Now, wherever he attempted to place a foot, he would be attacked by resolute, determined men, ready to put him to death, or compel immediate surrender. “To invade this island by air is to descend into a hornets’ nest, and there is no part of that nest where the stings are more ready and effective power to injure more remarkable than here, in the ancient Palace of Westminster, where the rifle is in one hand and sometimes speech notes in the other. We conduct the essential wol’k of the Mother of Parliaments and make it clear that neither bombardment nor invasion will prevent our institutions from functioning steadily and unbrokenly throughout the storms of war.”