NEW ZELAND'S DEFENCE

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 2, Issue 234, 6 November 1940, Page 5

NEW ZELAND'S DEFENCE

RALLY TO THE H6ME GUARD ADDRESS BY HON. R. SEMPLE LARGE WHAKATANE GATHERING Over four hundred persons atthe special meeting called by the Mayor for the pur-< pose of allowing the Hon. R. Semple, Minister of National Ser vice, and General Young, Commander ,of the Home Guard, to ;address the public of this district upon the urgency of organising of the local unit of the Home Guard. The meeting was enthusiastic and resulted in a hearty vote of thanks being pass ed to the speakers and the intimalign that the R.S.A. were one P er cent behind the Interesting information Avas supplied. by both speakers and although there Avere several interjections and a deal of amusement at times owing to the Ministers forceful method of expression, k Avas obvious that the meeting -was in full sympathy and as a result there Avilt be few able'bodied men excluded from the ranks •of the neAV garrison army when the 3ocal unit is made up. dThree Classes Affected. "There are three classes of men > effected in this movement," said 'General Young after the official "party comprising the Minister, General Young and Mrs Semple had - been formally welcomed by the Mayor, Mr B. S. Barry, Avho presided. <l They are the boys from 16 to 20 who will not be called for territorial service; the ex-seiAicemen Avho Avent oA'erseas last Avar and Avho Avill need A r ery little training now; and Sthe men who missed the last Avar, "yet who for domestic reasons are unable to go to. this one. AVe want the men from the last Avar to take ' these men in hand and assist them jn their training."

General Young pointed out that without organisation, an arjny Avas merely a-'rabble. He quoted Mata- ■ mata as an example of what could ~3je done. In that town the Home Guard executive had a list of all the fit horses in the district, the riiles, the bicycles and the cars. Why could this not be done in Whaka•tane? He was sure it would be and that before"long every thinking man would be in the ranks of the Home tGuard. He had promised the Army that he would watch the Avhole Jength of the coastline,* and form units which would if it - ••"became necessary, destroy the arter- „ . which might give access to a possible invader. The whole work had to be organised and thai was-why the Home Guard was beIng created. Mr Semple's Address. The Minister said that while he • did not intend, to come along for the purpose of creating a panic, he nevertheless felt it his duty to tell the people of New Zealand of the seriousness'of the position. In plain language this little country could no longer count itself as tucked away outside the danger zone. It was difficult to convince the aveiage Colonial who for so long had been in a sheltered position of insularity. The present war had however transformed the face of the "whole globe. It was totally different from the last war. c "We are faced to-day, said Mr Semple, ''with a challenge to the economic and social liberty of a free people. Our religious L righw were being disputed. How explain the attack by a in|!tiWffTnirnbering 200 millions on another numbering only 3V'2 million. Yet such was Finland's fate." The Minister dealt at length with the fate of those smaller peace-lov-ing nations who with-held their "hands from interference in the Rus-so-Finnish war in order that they .'themselves could be spared the horrors of war. But had that availed them? One by one they had been victims in their turn. Thus as Win:ston Chux-chill said, 'it was impossible to foretell what was going to happen from day to day. I therefore behoved New Zealand to be prepared. The Fate of France. France he declared was beaten before she ever declared war. A Voice: Why! Mr Semple: If you read you ought to know. lif you don't you should <• keep your mouth shut and not show ;your ignorance!

Continuing lie said that France was riddled with .subversive elements Bolshevism, Fascism, and Communism. A few months before she had been on the verge of a revolution. It only took Hitler two Aveeks to ovex*-run her. No one could tell him that it was the same nation that fought so stubbornly in 1918. France Ivad been crucified internally. . First Line of Defence. England was our first line of defence. If she went, then Ave Avent. He had came to Whakatane to point out grim realities and to ask for cooperation. There were in this country 300,000 men Avho could not go to fight overseas or to camp as territorials, but they could do some- | thing if they Averc trained and utilised as a garrison. Already much work had been accomplished and there Averc 99 aerodromes in the country ready for serA T ice. The Government was fully ali\re to the position and Avanted to have every available man ready and to take his place. We OAA T ed it to those men fighting overseas already to safeguard their families and dependants. Benefit of Organisation. ■Emphasising the need for speedy organisation, Mr Semple said that even in the event of us never having to defend the shores of this counts y, the benefits of having got together and rubbing shoulders Avith one another, learning the other chaps point of view and sympathising Avith him AA r ould make us a better people. He appealed to all fit men to rally round General Young, to train together, to think together and if need be to get ready to defend this country together against a possible invader. Backbone of Movement. General Young in a Avord to the Returned Soldiers present, said: 'You chaps are the buhvark o"f this movement. I'm not going to break you up with physical jerks. It will be easy training that Avill keep you fit. You will be trained with those men Avho missed the last Avar and Avho missed this, yet Avho are breaking their necks to do something." In moving a hearty vote of thanks, Mr J.. L. Burnett (County Chairman) said that he Avas sure the movement would get the wholehearted support of the Whakatane district. Seconding, Mr L. H. Brown said that he had been instructed to add that the local branch of the R.S.A. Avas 100 per cent behind the moA'ement. The motion .was carried by acclamation and the meeting terminated with the whole gathering rising and singing 'There'll Ahvays Be An England.'