WAR DEMANDS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 22 May 1943, Page 2

WAR DEMANDS

SURVEY BY GENERAL PUTTICK. HOME DEFENCE BECOMING LESS URGENT. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) WELLINGTON, This Day. In mobilising for home defence after Japan entered the , war the Army had had to be ruthless; the people could not have their cake and eat it, said Lieu-tenant-General Puttick when he reviewed stages through which New Zealand had passed during this war before newly-commissioned officers at the Army School of Instruction yesterday. They had had to go all out, not caring who they trod on, because none of these hardships or inconveniences were comparable with what would have happened if those yellow people had got to New Zealand. Then the Army was after every man and every gun. That, he thought, was the mood of the people at the time. That policy, however, was militarily unsound if sustained longer than necessary, for it was the policy of an enemy to tie down the forces of a country and limit its offensive strength. That offensive strength was not military alone, but industrial, and other forms of production were helpful in winning the war. As the defences in the Pacific had been built up, more equipment secured and training developed, it was possible to take the sting out of the heavy mobilisation . War was always changing and unstable, but assuming a continued improvement it was hoped eventually entirely to disregard home defence once more, as they very nearly could disregard it now in its more dangerous aspects.

During that period of heavy mobilisation they had had to put up with all sorts of defects and inefficiencies to get all the primary things done. At the time they were 1000 officers short, with tens of thousands of recruits to train. They needed officers urgently, and had to have pegs to fill the holes, whether they were round or square. They could not take the N.C.O.s for commissions as they were needed to train the recruits. So they had to select officers on their strength of character and potentialities, rush them through courses and cast out the obviously unsuitable. That done, it was intended as conditions permitted to pass those qualified during the emergency period through second courses to remedy the defects. Considering the size of the Army the failures were not many and a fine job was done during the heavy mobilisation. He publicly congratulated all those who had anything to do with it. Though the Chiefs of Staffs had never believed the invasion of New Zealand to be part of the Japanese plan, the heavy mobilisation might well have been the cause of their not coming here. An intending invader had to assess the strength of the opposition. If it had only 20,000 men in the field an invasion might be practical, but, with 100,000, impractical because of shipping, supply and other factors. It had been suggested in the Press that these was a surplus of officers several thousands. There were a great many officers, but there was also a great army.