RIFLE CLUBS AND DEFENCE.

Evening Star, Issue 23681, 14 September 1940, Page 10

RIFLE CLUBS AND DEFENCE.

General satisfaction will be felt over the announcement that an opportunity is to be afforded members of Dunedin rifle clubs to contribute to the national war effort in a practical way. It has been intimated that a mobile defence unit comprised solely of rifle club members is to be formed as part of the local Home Guard organisation. No doubt this is only the beginning of a system which will bo adopted in all parts of the Dominion whore civilians take some pride in keeping up their training as good marksmen. Rifle clubs in Invercargill, Dannevirke, and elsewhere have already been urging the defence authorities to make arrangements for the utilisation of their services, revealing a commendable enthusiasm which fits in well with the growing determination of Britons throughout the whole Empire to give a good account of themselves in the struggle against a barbaric aggression. It has been argued that the rifle does not play a conspicuous part in modern warfare. Whatever may happen in the course of a European blitzkrieg, it will he found, wo should imagine, that if Now Zealand is over called upon to defend her shores export marksmen will ho very much in demand. In any case, the day of the sniper has not yet nassed. . The point is that an attack

upon New Zealand by an enemy far from his base can hardly come in a massed form, and as long as the defence is well organised and trained, and mobile enough to counter a surprise landing in quick time, the commissioning of large numbers, though naturally desirable, is not entirely essential. At the outset of the Gallipoli campaign, for instance, the Turks found that riflemen and machine-gun-ners expertly posted were most useful in impeding the progress of a landing foi-ce.

The training of both Territorials, the National Reserve Battalion, and the Home Guard wiSl be an- important part of the Dominion’s defence programme this summer, and rifle club members should be given the opportunity to, serve not only as a unit of their own, but also, in the initial stages at any rate, as coaches of other men in the home army. There is some truth in the remarks of Mr A. JR. Wills (president of the Invercargill Defence Rifle Club), who stated the other day: “Of the older members of the club not eligible for active sendee there are many who would be useful in teaching recruits to shoot No matter how old

a man is, so long as he can shoot, he would be of value in some way. 1 am quite satisfied that if we picked out a squad from our two rifle clubs here any enemy coming within 100 yards would get a hot time—a hotter time than any Territorials could give them.” Naturally, there is no shooting like straight shooting, and it is only to be expected that men who have kept their eye and hand in on the butts down through the years should be able to give points to a new generation that has not had the benefit of compulsory training in recent times. Rifle clubs do not particularly specialise in military methods such as rapid firing and snap-shooting, but for deliberate long-range work their members should have few equals as instructors. And those of them who have had no military experience should have little difficulty in adapting themselves to the new conditions.