THE TERRITORIALS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 14 August 1939, Page 4

THE TERRITORIALS

EXCELLENT RESPONSE IN MASTERTON RECRUITING OFFICER'S VISIT. FORMATION OF ASSOCIATION PROJECTED. "The citizens of Masterton should be proud of the ready response which the young men of the district have made to the appeal for recruits for the Territorial Force," said Captain B. Barrington. Central Military District recruiting officer, in an interview with a "Times-Age" representative this morning. Captain Barrington visited Masterton during the weekend to confer with Major J. H. Irving, officer commanding the First Battalion, Hawke’s Bay Regiment, on matters affecting recruiting and the formation of a local Territorial Association. The Masterton quotas of the Hawke's Bay Regiment and the East Coast Mounted Rilles were filled in a very short time after the expansion was announced. That response, said Captain Barrington, was gratifying not only to the Minister of Defence and the Army Department, but also to those ke'en young men who had been members of the Territorial Force for the last four or five years and who had carried on with very little public encouragement.

Great keenness was evident in all districts among the Territorial units and if the interest shown by the public during the last few months was maintained, an efficient force was assured.

Captain Barrington paid a tribute to organisations and to individual citizens who had assisted during the re- • cruiting' 1 campaign. It was now proposed to give all citizens an opportunity of rendering permanent encouragement and assistance to the young men who were prepared to make a sacrifice to be trained for the defence of the country. That was the main object of the Territorial associations which were being formed throughout New Zealand. A meeting of citizens will be called in Masterton at an early date, probably next week, for the purpose of forming such an association here. Associations, of this kind have been in existence throughout the Empire for many years, said Captain Barrington, and they have greatly assisted in raising the prestige of the forces generally. The call to serve today vzas not only a call to the pick of New Zealand’s manhood, but also a call on every citizen to co-operate in creating community “pride of unit,” so that our Territorials would be really proud to serve.