NEW ZEALAND'S DEFENCES

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 84, 26 April 1937, Page 9

NEW ZEALAND'S DEFENCES

"Time Has Come to Take Stock" PREPARATION NEEDED I The view that there was need at the present time for New Zealand to take stock of her national defences, especially in the matter of training cf men and officers, so that in the event of there being a call such as was made in, 1914, they would not be imprepared, was voiced by Colonel C. H. Weston, K.C., D.S.O., in the course of his address at the Anzac Day Service in Hastings yesterday afternoon. As was mentioned afterwards by Mr P. J. Priest, president of the Hastings Returned Soldiers' Association, Colonel Weston' s address gave food for thought "Twenty-two years have passed since the landingi on Gallipoli, and they have gone so quickly that it is difficult to realise the passage of time, but with every year there is an increasiug respect for the undoubted gallantry of those boys of the Main Body," said Colonel Weston- "Mere boys they were, for I understand their average age was under 21 years. "One almost regrets that their parents and sisters, and to-day their children, were not given the same privilege of seeing how they faced the great test. Unless one has shared it with them it is not easy to understand the heights to which they rose. Memories of them under all conditions crowd and jostle each other in our minds. Memories of the storming of the flower be-

decked heights of Gallipoli; of marching through the villages of France j on guard and peering throu'gdi the mists into No Man's Land ; and so of many others. "They were big actors in a great drama,'1 he said. "They were east in the partg of heroee who had to be patient in dire discomfort ; who had to endure bodily mutilation; and who had to face death, riot only without a murmur but with a jest on their Jips. But they would be the first to admit that the stage was set for them, for it is a truism that most of our actions have cau-ses existing in days gone by. N.z. United in Defence.

"I rather think that Wellington had this in raind when he said that the Battle of Waterloo was won at Eton," said the speaker. "The epic of April 25, 1915, belonged to a period, It was but One seheme in a vast play, running from 1908 to 1918- The eurtain went up in 1908 when New Zealand set the stagje for the boys in the trenches. In that year the mind of New Zealand was united in the matter of defence. Our leaders of that time planned and executed the compulsory seheme of territorial training. The Government brought out from England cfficers and instructors and it imported equipment and material. "In I9I4 we were ready, and New Zealand, almost as a whoie, was behind the boys. We were fortunate in our leaders — General Godley, General Russell, General Chaytor and many others — and I take this opportunity of oxpressing m.y appreciation of being able to say to some of you who were General Russell's own men what a great and practical soldier he was. He stood with both feet on the ground and his head was 5ft- 8 inehes above the ground, not up in the clouds. He knew the men, aud knew them in the trenches, not from lieadquarters and away at the back of the lines. "In the light of experience, we realise the value of training and practice," he said. "The training before the war was, of the greate^t value. It was easy for mistakes to be inade by untrained . officers and men, and the tfagedy of it was that the mistakes were not paid for in money, but in precious lives- The worst example of this was that of the Americans in September, 1918, at St. Mihiel, they fought their first battle as a qomplete unit. The casualties were appalling, and the main cause was their laek of training and experience. Untraineg Troops. "The question that forces itself upon ijs to-day is that of whether or not onr boys should be tvained for war, ' said Colonel Weston. "Noa© of those ^ who h'ad experience in the last war would liko to see our boys practically sfcrbbed in the back, for that is what it would amount to if they were sent to war without first being trained, To send untrained troops is to send them to slaughter. Tlierei'ore 1 say the question fprced upon us is if a sixnilar cause should an'se. are we capable cf rising to itP "It is diiffieult to find a satisfactory answer to that question," he added.

"Have we any trained men and especially trained officers 1 Are they trained for modern warfare? Have we modorn equipment and material? Is there any encouragement for themi? "There is a conflict of opinions, and people's minds are uncertain. Some say we should not figjht. Others say we shoiild fight- Others say we should fight, but not prepar© for it.; others again say w© must fight, but not with weapons; others also quite frankly say that they will not fight under any circumstances. It is indeed a difficalt matter to face. "I make no apology for speaking on this subject here to-day, for I do not think it out of keeping with Anzao Day," he said. "If the souls of those men who died do mdngle with us, then I think that of all the days chey would be near us would b© to-day, and I have a feeling that they would he mOve thpn a little puzzled at New Zealsnd'a attitufle to-dav . "Twenty-tv/o years ago they qave up everything, incuding their 'nost- pro cious lives. They were led to fce!iev» that money aud food and home Comforts were secondary things, and that the primary things were freeclom, honour and self-respeot. To-day thov would find a curiQus indiffereuce that would almost indicate that their sacrificeg were not warranted- If we wero able to -see them, I fear that we would see them going baek disappointed to their graves in Gallipoli and Halestine and France," he concluded. 5