Fine Material in Britain’s New Army

Manawatu Times, Volume 64, Issue 308, 30 December 1939, Page 5

Fine Material in Britain’s New Army

RAPIDITY OF TRAINING LONDON, Dec. 3. A large proportion of the men in British Territorial units in France joined their regiments only a few months before the war, but their officers are confident that already they could give a very good account of themselves. In fact, the officers think that within a month or so the territorial units will not lose much by comx>arison with the Regular Army formations, which form tho spearhead of the British Army in France. In the middle months of this year the Territorial Army was doubled. Every battalion had to "throw off" a second battalion. This meant a big diffusion of experienced officers and men, but, on mobilisation, this was balanced to a large extent by putting Regular Army reservists into Territorial Army units. I Civilians Transformed In one unit visited recently about a quarter of the officers and a quarter 0-f the other ranks were reservists who had served for seven years or longer with the Regular Army. On the other hand, a quarter of the men had enlisted only a short while before the war, and after the possibility of Herr Hitler forcing the world into war had become almost a certainty. These young soldiers and the others, who were in civilian jobs when the war broke out, were miners in the North of England last August, or clerks, shop assistants or fisbporters in Northern. Scotland. The colonel was a business man in a Scottish city, and the second-in-command and several other officers wore lawyers. This Scottish unit —so Scottish that the French interpreter attached to it cannot understand what the men aay—rejoices in giving wide circulation to stories which the Scottish love to tell against themselves. One officer —a former regular, who judges his men by Regular Army standards—said that his unit already was fit for war, in spite of the fact that the unit was re-equipped with n*w weapons only three months before the war broke out. Winter Breathing-space Veteran officers consider that the big majority of the men coming forward for the New Army can be turned into firstclass soldiers in about three months. There are some whose progress is a good deal slower. It takes longer to "manufacture" efficient non-commissioned officers, but these gaps are being filled from tho big store of Regular Army reservists. By the end of the winter, they consider, there will not be much to distinguish the territorial battalion* from the regular battalions of the same regiments. Some younger regular officers of tha post-war generation think it will take longer to round off the training of territorial units, but, even if one accepts the least optimistic opinion, the Citizen Army will become effective much more quickly than its predecessor did in 1914-1916, and there will be time* before the winter breathing-space is past, to complete the training of the big army which Britain is putting in the line beside the French Army.