The Dominion WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26, 1942. ALL-ROUND DEFENCE TRAINING

Dominion, Volume 35, Issue 281, 26 August 1942, Page 4

The Dominion WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26, 1942. ALL-ROUND DEFENCE TRAINING

Au important development in home defence training was referred to for the first time by the Minister of Civil Defence (Mr. Bodkin) when he stated in Auckland on Monday that negotiations were proceeding with the Army for “the special training of .Home Guard units in thickly-populated areas in fire-fighting.” This is a common-sense move; indeed, it is a very desirable one now that manpower has become one of the major problems of home defence. As the Minister suggested, the circumstances of an attack on one of the larger centres of this country may be such that fire-fighters will be in action, and perhaps hard pressed, whereas the services of Home Guardsmen, as such, will not be required. In such an event it would be a great advantage for the civil defence authorities to be. able to rely upon the assistance of guardsmen who had understanding and experience of emergency fire-fighting duties, It is to be hoped that the Army, far from placing any unnecessary obstacles ’in the way of this development, will encourage and assist it. No doubt training facilities and instructors would be provided by the city fire brigades with the assistance of E.F.S. and E.P.S. officers, so that the principal duty for Home Guard unit commanders would be to set aside a proportion of their parades for civil defence training. This scheme, once established, might be carried even further, and instruction given in other branches of E.P.S. organization, such as first aid and rescue as well as wardens and police duties. In the event of a raid from the air, during which the majority of guardsmen were standing by, civil emergency services.of various kinds may have pressing need of reinforcement. Such assistance would.be much more valuable if it came from men who, in addition to being trained for military action, were accustomed to the use of emergency equipment and were familiar with E.P.S. methods generally. At the same time it should be generally recognized that an undertaking by the Home Guard to become all-rounders of home defence would be no light one. To introduce it' as a plus item on an already exacting programme of spare-time training would heighten the very marked contrast between the regular and strenuous activities of most Home Guard units, and the extremely casual and occasional assemblies of many E.P.S. groups, to which a proportion of active men are attached as an alternative to Home Guard membership. But provided that instruction in fire-fighting, and perhaps some other branches of emergency service, can be alternated with military exercises, oi introduced by way of substitute for lecture parades of secondary importance, it should not become a burden. On the contrary it would broaden the interests of trainees, and encourage the closer co-operation of the E.P.S. in dealing with problems of mutual concern.