THE BRITISH ARMY

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20093, 13 November 1939, Page 11

THE BRITISH ARMY

PROMOTION FROM RANKS

SEARCH FOR TALENT

LONDON, Nov. 24 A military authority has emphasised that the pledge given recently by the Secretary for War, Mr. L. HoreBelisha, to the effect that commanding officers have been instructed to keep a continuous lookout for talent among the ranks, and that “ a star is within every private soldier's reach,’’ is being carried out. The authority illustrated this by

saying that one officer who was re- ' cently promoted from the ranks was a labourer whose education, comparatively speaking, amounted to little, but- who, obviously, was a born leader, possessing “a personality acceptable to other men." Another private who was similarly promoted was aged only 21, but he managed a cement-mixing business of his own and had seven men working under him.

This man had comparatively _ little education, but, clearly, had initiative, enterprise, and self-confidence, thus showing he was a leader. The authority expressed the greatest enthusiasm for the type of recruit being trained. "The cardinal principle being applied in every camp throughout the country is ‘make every mind alert and every body fit.’ ” he said Stress was laid on the fact that the army at present had more recruits available than it could deal with. Therefore the army did not intend to break the cardinal principle by throwing open the floodgates to more recruits than it could handle. The numerical balance between officers and men which was carefully worked out before the war was being maintained.