Current Affairs in the Army

Arawa Guerilla, Issue 19, 1 October 1943, Page 9

Current Affairs in the Army

TO YOU PERSONALLY.

One of the main attractions about the subjects selected by A.E.W.S. for the weekly Current Affairs discussions is that the problems ARE current, and that developments in these fields occur continually and are reported in, the daily press. In some cases (but they are still too few) soldiers realise this. Such remarks are heard as: “I never realised what was going on in China till we had a talk about it; now I seem to notice the cables about China more often.” This remark, admittedly, is reminiscent of the familiar ads.: “I never knew what really WHITE linen was, till 1 used Washo!” But it was actually spoken to the writer by a member of an army discussion group.

In still too many cases, however, the groups regard the subjects as “static” rather than “current” affairs. As discussion closes, there is a feeling that anyhow that’s finished, and we can wait to see what the next subject will be. You haven’t finished with the subject when the discussion hour closes. Even if you refuse to think any more about the problem discussed, it goes on developing, badly or well, in the world outside the camp. A slightly more careful reading of the daily press ought to convince you of that. So one of the purposes of this page each month will be to draw your attention to. these developments—help you realise that these problems are very much “current.” The other purpose will be to tell you how discussion has gone in some of the units. Perhaps news from camps where discussion has been successful and enjoyed by all, will help those where it hasn’t been so good. In both jobs, soldier, we want your help! Listen 1 First, no one man can watch all the news in the papers. Overseas periodicals frequently print new information on the problems we discuss in AEWS groups. When you notice something of this kind that’s interesting send it in.

Second, you fellows in the camps are most often the only ones who can give us the dinkum oil on the direction your discussion took. AEWS staff can be present at only a small percentage of the discussions in any one camp. So send us news of your own activities too. This page in future ‘•Guerillas” is over to you. A SIDELIGHT. Staff Officer earnestly discusing the Current Affairs scheme with the whole unit, including the Major. Arrives at the point where he implores the men to say what subjects they would like the Bulletins to discuss. Interval of silence, then a spate of suggestions. Finally very serious staff-sergeant gets to his feet.

“Dunno if I can make myself clear sir, but I’d like some discussion on Man and the Universe. I mean—er—where do we come from? Er—what’s my relation to the world? In fact—er —what AM I?”

More silence. His glance falls on the Major. “And—— are YOU?” The Major jumps to his feet and glares hurriedly round the assembly. “Seven days’ C. 8.,” he snaps, “for the man who answers that question 1” POPULATION PROBLEMS. Remember you discussed that in the early days? Of course, the problem hasn’t stood still. You may remember that the Bulletin (No. 2) showed a general decline in the birth rate, as well as in the rates of natural, increase and of net reproduction. There had been a slight recovery around 1940; but students of population change put this down as the usual result of the impact of war, and few were hopeful that the upward

trend would be maintained. 0 f course, it hasn’t been. The New Zealand Press in April gave some of the relevant figures. Here they are. They compare the first quarter of this year with the first quarter of last year.

Of course, you mustn’t attach too much importance to figures for just separate quarters of the year. Even so there is cause for uneasiness. To begin with, there were 135 fewer marriages, which doesn’t promise well for the future birth rate. There will be compensations, of course, when single men from overseas return and marry. But (he number of births has dropped by 274. The number of deaths has also dropped; but only by 33. As was pointed out in many of the groups in NMD, the death rate can’t go on falling. People must die some time or other, and if better medical care succeeds in postponing death awhile for many of them, no one can avoid it, and there must later be a rise in the death rate. Since the Bulletin on Population was published, a Press statement by the N.Z. Government statistician has underlined the problem. “It had to be remembered that the population of the Dominion was getting older, and there was a general upward tendency in the death-rate.”

Figures in the same statement showed the upward tendency of death, and the downward tendency of birth-rate:

Even, if you didn’t continue to think about it other people did, and their views were duly published. . The. Leader of the Opposition stated in Kaitaia that he would aim at doubling . the population by immigration within ten or fifteen years after soldiers had been re-habilitated. That would mean immigration at a rate of 2,000 a week for fifteen years, or 3,000 a week for ten years. Ever stopped to think what it would mean to transport 3,000 people a week here, for all of ten years, and find work for them ? Even that would give us only a few more than 3,000.000 people at the end of the period. Mr. Nash, at almost the same time, stated that our natural resources were sufficient for a population of some 6,000,000. You can work out for yourself the rate per week necessary to achieve that figure in say ten years. And finally, note our natural increase (births minus deaths) for 1942, and work out how long it will take us on natural increase alone to reach either 3,000,000 or 6,000,000. We offer no prize for the first correct answer, but we would like to hear from you about it

DEVELOPMENTS IN CHINA There has been an avalanche of short and very disjointed cables about the fronts in China since you discussed “China at War.” It has been difficult to piece them together to form

a coherent picture. But several things seem plain. China (or at least the Chiang Kai-Shek’s) are getting restive at our failure to increase supplies to them. Madame Koo, last May, complained that China was getting only two per cent, of American lendlease aid, and Madame Chiang, speaking during her American tour and afterwards, could not hide her disappointment at the failure of our Burma campaign, with consequent continued loss of the life-line of the - Burma Road.

Most disquieting of all, however, is news from China of the imminent resumption of civil war. This long internal conflict between Chiang and the Communists had already smoothed Japan’s path up to 1937. Its cessation, ushering in a period of comparative unity in 1937, made possible the valiant stand of China through six years of terrible invasion. The Mowling massacre of January, 1940, almost nrecipitated full scale civil war again. It was, however, avoided then, and all friends of China must hope it will be avoided now. Its recrudescence could help only the Japanese invader. WAR IN RUSSIA. Here is an interesting and cheering little exercise. On page 13 of the Bulletin on “War in Russia” (No. 3 of Vol. 1) you will find a map from which you can obtain the line of the furthest German advance. It is the dotted line that sweeps round Leningrad in the north, thence east, and then south through Bologoe, round Kalinin, down west of Moscow to Tula, east from there, then south-west >to join the thick black line north-west of Vorenej. From here you can follow it clearly enough into the Caucasus, round Mozdok, and thence west to Novorossisk.

Work in the Bulletin if you like, but it will be better to copy the line on an otherwise blank map of Europe. On the same map, draw the line of the present Soviet-German front. This is published at intervals in all the leading dailies. If you work on the Bulletin map you will see that the present front, for the first time has staved in part of the line established by the Germans in July, 1941, onlv a month or so after the Germans first attacked. This occurs in the Smolensk region.

We give you also a problem to chew over.

We now understand something of the long Russian retreat. We can see now that the Russians made no “prestige” stands, but retreated - steadily and in good order, reserving their counter blows for the moments when they would pay the greatest dividends. There is no question about the earlier German retreats. They were dis-

astrous retirements forced on them by their enormous blunder at Stalingrad. But more recently? Are they retreating still because, as on the Steppes, they are smashed back after a reckless advance? Or are they now adopting the realistic attitude of the Russians, and getting out before they have to pay too high a price, so that they will later have strength to hit back? They would not lightly have abandoned the great base of Smolensk, but at the moment they are still offering tough resistance to the Red Army’s advance on Vitebsk and Mohilev.

The cables now report two schools of thought on this. One school, the more optimistic, regards the retreat as due to unqualified compulsion, and sees the way open for a Red Army advance into East Poland. The other school, more cautious, admits, of course, that the retreat is by compulsion, but believes that the retreat is strategic, that each place has been evacuated before the last minute, that the Nazis haye thus maintained good order (they didn’t after Stalingrad) and that they have thus retained suffi cient strength for a counter-blow, which they were quite unable to deliver on the Steppes.

Chew it over, soldier. And watch the news!

Marriages Births Deaths 1st quarter, Marriages Births Deaths 1942 714 714 1156 1156 599 599 1st quarter, 1943 579 579 882 882 566 566

Total Births Total Deaths 1941 . 35100 15146 1942 . .... 33678 16386