The Bay of Plenty Beacon Published Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 1942 WHAT OF OUR CIVILIANS?

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 5, Issue 95, 24 August 1942, Page 4

The Bay of Plenty Beacon Published Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 1942 WHAT OF OUR CIVILIANS?

PATRIOTIC FUND COMPARISONS

The column titled "excess 1941" shows the balance held over from last year's appeal which is automatically credited to the current year's allocation.

Transport Licensing Authority The quarterly sitting of the No. 1 Transport Licensing Authority takes placc in the Courthouse, Whakatanc, 011 Thursday next at 10 a.m. [Considerable interest centres on. this •sitting which will handle the question of the continuance or otherwise of several of the local services connecting Whakatanc with rail and out-districts. ,

WITH the intensification of Home Guard training, now that that organisation has been uniformed and brought under strict army control, the question which is uppermost in guardsmen's minds, is "What steps have been, or are being taken for safeguarding our families.'' This perfectly natural query has gained a growing prominence since. Japan entered the war and the threat of invasion became more pronounced. To-day the Home Guardsman has been informed that in the event of an emergency, he is expected at\ a given signal to. leave his family andi at once take up his appointed battle station. Under military law he can be shot for disobedience, and by all the rules must obey his summons without question. We don't doubt for a moment, that it will be in the mindi of every man to comply at once witli the order, for it is well known that should invasion strike these shores the Home Guard will be the only trained and organised body to come to immediate grips with the enemy until the arrival of the regular forces. Every man will therefore realise the importance of being promptly on the job. The greatest problem, and therefore the query which is most general amongst Home Guardsmen is conjecture as to the fate of their families under such circumstances. These men will not be going into battle like our overseas troops, who have the comforting reflection that their homes andi loved ones are safe and sound some ten thousand miles away. They will know that their homes lie in their immediate rear, and they will be constantly concerned for their safety. Such a thought can not be calculated to assist their fighting capacity, nor will it help to create consolidated and orderly control behind the lines. On whose responsibility therefore depends the welfare and protection of the civilian community—the women and children of the men of the fighting forces? As everybody knows this duty has been assigned to the E.P.S., a twin organisation which has: fallen upon evil days. Three months ago the E.P.S. had reached, its hey-day in this district, being numerically strong and covering a wide field of activity which was calculated to grapple satisfactorily with any type of emergency arising from bombardment or bombing. To-day with the insistent demands of the army its ranks have been hea.vily weeded and the structure is but a skeleton of its former self. Strangely enough the all important question of evacuation has never been satisfactorily finalised. Discussed for at least a twelvemonth it has as far as the population of this town knows, never been completed in systematic and organised form and the restless question of; what to do? where to go? what to prepare ? have gone unanswered. The official army injunction 'to stay put' still holds good, but at the same time it has been admitted that it may be necessary at any moment to clear all civilians from this coastal area, should, it ever be threatened. Should that eventuate —what then! A ready-made plan with which all civilians were conversant would be invaluable,, in fact vital, for without it we can only picture chaos. It is this thought that is to-day worrying Home Guardsmen and it is only by overcoming it that the authorities can hope for the efficiency and the true fighting spirit, which will bring every man swiftly to his post, shouldi ever local mobilisation (which God forbid) call our Home Guardsmen to mann their battle stations for the grim purpose of repelling an invader.

WHILE the Eastern Bay of Plenty , (Zone 'K') is endeavouring- to find further funds to built its allocation up from the 60 per cent already in hand it is interesting to view the position of the other zones within the Auckland province. The following table shews the figures as they were released by headquarters as at June 30 last:— Allocation Now in hand Exccss 1941 Present

More Dogs Poisoned Further instances of dogs dying of strychnine poisoning are reported from Kopeopeo, where two animals died during the week-end. This cruel habit of certain individuals appears to periodically make itself evident, in this town, and the cooperation of all decent-minded citizens is sought in tracing down the culprit.

Objective "A" (Northland) 57,500 21,646 7 7 6,279 51,221 "B" (Rodney) 5,000 2,961 11 4 1,248 3,752 "C" Akld Met) 241,250 34,517 7 6 33,485 207,765 'T>" (Franklin) 20,000 5,637 17 11 5,022 14,978 "E" (Waikato) 98,750 18,488 13 6 3,318 95,432 "F" (Rotorua,) 27,500 5,278 1»4 5 1,369/ 26,131 "G" (Western B.O.P.) 13,750 3,582 8 4 1,329 12,421 "H" (Thames 12,500 2,319 18 2 4,576 7,924 "I" (Ohinemuri) 7,500 3,304 4 4 1,381 6,119 "K" (Eastern B.O.P.) 16,250 9,162 18 7 1,205 15,045