GUARDING OUR HOMES

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 5, Issue 16, 13 February 1942, Page 4

GUARDING OUR HOMES

A HUNDRED settlers, mostly if not all members of the Bome Guard, gathered in quick time 011 Tuesday evening to t eat back a Scrub fire at Thornton which was endangering the homestead and pastures of a fellow settler. They came not as curious sightseers or as people with good intentions but no organisation. Instead they set to. work as a disciplined company under the direction, of their Home Guard officers. So once again was demonstrated in the Whakatane district the value of the Home Guard as a defence force ready to deal with any emergency. For over a year the householders of each town, township and farming centre have been meeting at frequent intervals on their Home Guard parade grounds. Those of them who were strangers or only nodding acquaintances now feel a strong bond of comradeship —similar to that which binds together men of the fighting services overseas. All of us will hope that the New Zealand Home Guard will never be called on to deal with Axis invaders, but all will certainly agree that the Home Guard has proved its worth in humbler spheres, such as the firefighting incident at Thornton this week. It will also be recalled that six months ago the Thornton Home Guard organised with commendable zeal a patrol of river and beach when a settler and fellow guardsman was reported drowned.