The Dominion. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 27, 1942. CIVIL DEFENCE MARKS TIME

Dominion, Volume 36, Issue 27, 27 October 1942, Page 4

The Dominion. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 27, 1942. CIVIL DEFENCE MARKS TIME

It is to be hoped that the inquiry by the Mayor of Wellington, concerning the duties which the national civil defence authorities expect the E.P.S. to perform during the coming holidays, will be thoughtfully and positively answered. There is more to this matter than merely a need for uniformity of service as between fire-watchers and members of district units. The real problem is that of maintaining continuity of E.P.S. activity—and, therefore, of civil defence vigilance—not only during the holidays but also over the whole of the summer period. In the last three months this activity has noticeably dwindled; indeed many branches of the E.P.S. appear to be marking time and their personnel are losing touch with the organization. If this is permitted to continue during the summer, actual retrogression is likely to replace the meagre progress of the past year. There are two probable reasons for the inertia which appears to have crept into the E.P.S. One is the discouraging position in respect to membership, which is constantly changing as a result of . recruitment to the Armed Forces and the Home Guard. In such circumstances the' task of organization and training has been made extremely difficult. Local leaders and headquarters conti oilers have had much of their time taken up with clerical and recording work, with the result that practical activities have languished. Uhe second reason is seen, in the seemingly endless postponements of an adequate programme of direction by the national E.P.S. authonties. The appointment of a Minister of Civil Defence, and the creation of regional commissionerships, gave promise that active, week-by-week direction would be forthcoming. It has not appeared. Even the plans prepared by the Minister for the instruction of E.P.S. unit leaders have failed, thus far, to materialize. Ihe fact that the portfolio of Civil Defence is at present without a Minister may explain, but does not excuse, this delay. At the present time of grave uncertainty in the Pacific there should be no temporizing. Not only should steps be taken to see that all units are ready to act competently—and in concert—on short notice, but the public should also be rehearsed in the part it must play, with the assistance of the civil defence services, in a time of sudden emergency. For many months past there has been no such rehearsal on any scale of realism in the Wellington district. What is more unsatisfactory, there has never been held, at any time, a full E.P.S. test in the Wellington metropolitan area. Past rehearsals have consisted merely of blackout trials (in which the community has come to a standstill, with little practice of the important art of carrying on essential activities and services in darkness), dispersal trials (productive of very uncertain results from the point of view of practicability and safety), and more’ or less full E.P.S. trials, ovei limited areas (without any real practice of inter-area co-operation a vitally necessary side of E.P.S. organization). Many of these trials have revealed weaknesses emphasizing the urgent need for repetition after further training—yet these trials have been virtually abandoned. Such is the position as it stands. The picture of wasted early energy and growing apathy is relieved only here and. there by sighs that certain wardens’' groups and other E.P.S. units are holding together the personnel available to them by meetings and routine practices in their various localities. Some district groups have not assembled, let alone practised, for months past. Hundreds of E.P.S. members are in danger of forgetting what little they have learned of their duties. With the summer months and.holiday period approaching, our civil defence appears to be nationally leaderless and lacking in inspiration.or positive direction. Judged, by the .mass of its membership, it is not alert. No, one can fairly claim that it is capable of handling an emergency, because its capability to operate on the scale and in the fashion of an actual raid emergency has never been properly tested. The Mayor of Wellington is, therefore, more than justified in seeking some guidance from the national authorities as to the immediate future. The reply to his inquiry will be awaited with interest. • .