RALLY, BOYS!

Taranaki Daily News, 31 December 1915, Page 5

RALLY, BOYS!

REINFORCEMENTS URGENTLY REQUIRED. DOMINION'S HONOR AT STAKE. i By Telegraph.—Press Association. ' Wellington, Las£ Night, 4 The urgency of the call for recruits was emphasised by the Minister of Do- • fence (Hon. J. Allen) to a pressman j to-day. Men are wanted immediately j for the Eleventh and Twelfth Rein- < forcciuents who went into camp short j early in the present month,. and the gaps have not all been filled. The Twelfth Reinforcements are to be called on January 10, and the number of registrations in hand ii not yet adequate, "I want the men of New Zealand to feel the pressing importance of this call," said the Minister. . "We need recruits now; men who are prepared to , begin their training at once". Gaps require to be filled in ranks of the Eleventh 1 Reinforcements, and the lists for the Twelfth Reinforcements require to be * brought to the full strength. The Do- ' minion cannot contemplate failure in this ' matter. We stand pledged to send forward Reinforcements regularly to the units already at ..lie front, and in order ! that we may redeem our solemn undertaking. Some mri who are able to come ] forward now may be holding back undet the impression that the new recruiting scheme is going to change the situation in some way. I ask those men to ; face the fact that the new recruiting ; scheme cannot eor.ie into full operation in time to give us the recruits we want now and in January. We have to fill, drafts for these two months under the old system of recruiting. That is, we have to depend upon tnc patriotism of the men themselves, and the assistance of existing recruiting organisations. I make this appeal rpecially to those who have no dependents or family responsibilities. There is another consideration I would bring under notice of available men who have not yet come forward. The Eleventh and Twelfth Reinforcements —the drafts we are trying to fill now—will reach the war area in June or July, perhaps the most important months of the war. The Allied forces may be making their great effort in those summer months, and it is certain that operations of the utmost importance will he in progress. Ido not think any New Zealander would like to recollect in after years that he had neglected to 3erve his country when the occasion was so momentous and the issues were so vast."