MOBILE DEFENCE UNITS

Southland Times, Issue 24234, 18 September 1940, Page 4

MOBILE DEFENCE UNITS

MEMBERS OF RIFLE CLUBS EAGER The Commander of the Home Guard (Major-General R. Young), who is expected to visit Invercargill shortly to make arrangements for the formation of the Home Guard in the district, will also confer with the president of the New Zealand Rifle Association (Dr A. F. Ritchie Crawford) about the formation of mobile defence units composed solely of rifle club members. These units, it is expected, will be formed as part of the Home Guard. Dr Crawford said last night that members of rifle clubs had been seeking to assist in the defence of the country and the formation of such units would be welcomed by them. It has been announced in Dunedin that a defence unit composed solely of rifle club members is to be formed there. It is considered by rifle club members that the sport requires them to possess a full knowledge of the correct use and care of the rifle and that accurate shooting could not be performed unless the equipment was in firstclass condition. All members of defence rifle clubs, they pointed out, were thoroughly coached on these lines and thereby became efficient marksmen. It has been said that, whereas riflemen are experts at target shooting, they are not nearly as expert when firing the musketry course as laid down by army regulations. The riflementhemselves claim that this has been proved on many occasions to be a fallacy and that the greater number of riflemen, by their knowledge of handling the rifle, have proved that they are equally as adept in service shooting as they are in their target shooting competitions.