HOME GUARDS.
OUR readers will remember that in the first weeks of the war we strongly urged that men of non- military age who were still able-bodied enough to do something in the way of home defence would not only do no harm, but might do a great deal of good to themselves and their country, by using their spare time to train in Town and Village Guards for home defence. We urged that the fundamental rule of such corps should be that no man should be allowed to join their ranks who was eligible for enlistment in the new Army. Therefore they should take no man between the ages of nineteen and thirty-eight, and no ex-soldier under forty-five, unless he were unable to join the colours for some reason of health, height, or chest measurement. The next rule that we suggested was that Town Guards and Village Guards should in every case make themselves into recruiting bodies and do their very best to urge all eligible men to enlist with the colours. At the moment our scheme was deemed premature, if not injurious. We are ready to con- fess, indeed, that it met not merely with scant support, but with indignant opposition. We were accused of wanting to guard the village pump. Now, however, we are glad to see that the movement that was then derided and con- demned has been strongly taken up, and has managed to win the approval of the military authorities. Under the presidency of Lord Desborough—no better man could possibly have been chosen—with a very distinguished body of colleagues, a Central Association has been formed for directing and organizing the large number of Home Guard corps which in the last few weeks have been springing up throughout the country. Lord Desborough's organization is known as the Central Association of Volun- teer Training Corps, and has its head offices at Judges' Quadrangle, Royal Courts of Justice (Carey Street entrance). Its hon. secretary is Mr. Percy Harris, to whom all inquiries should be addressed. The Central Association, having obtained the confidence of the War Office and full sanction for their movement, very rightly determined to let the country at large know of their existence and of their aims and objects. To this end they enlisted the help of the Lord Mayor of London, for it is the well-justified pride of the City that it has always been ready to give the nation a lead in matters of home defence. Accordingly on Wednes- day a meeting, presided over by the Lord Mayor in full civic state, was held in the Guildhall. Of that meeting the present writer need only say that it was one of the most impressive, most serious and purposeful that he has ever attended. Every inch of space in the great hall was occupied by exactly the right type of men — i.e., men eligible to act as Home Guards under the Central Association's scheme. It was an audience of men between the ages of forty and sixty—of men, that is, past the prime of life from the military point of view, but quite capable, if trained to the use of the rifle and inspired by the co-opera- tive spirit of military discipline, of giving a very fair account of themselves in the defence of their homes. There was no lack of enthusiasm in the meeting, but there was something a great deal better than enthusiasm, which after all can always be raised in a public meeting in war time. There was a sense of determination which promised far more than wild zealotry or beady rhetoric. A very significant sign was the fact that by far the loudest and longest cheers were given, not to conventional expressions of patriotism, but to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's pungent remarks on the grossness of the football scandal. In an audience of sport-loving Englishmen, for such it distinctly was, it was most reassuring to hear the heartfelt growl of condemnation of those who put their sport before service to the nation. Unless we are greatly mistaken, it shows that, if those who control professional football do not quickly take action for themselves, they will be overwhelmed by an outburst of public opinion that may sweep not only them but the fine game which they repre- sent to perdition. There is no small danger, as a corre- spondent of ours pointed out last week, that its present self-appointed defenders may drag football down till it bears upon it a brand from which it will never recover— the brand of anti-patriotism.
The Central Association have a very big task before them,
but we feel certain that they are strong enough to deal with it. Not only, as we have said, is Lord Desborough an ideal man for the post of President, but he is strongly supported. For example, the Corps has for its military adviser General Sir O'Moore Creagh, who suc- ceeded Lord Kitchener as Commander-in-Chief in India, and, we may be sure, will see to it that the Corps will act on sound military lines, and not develop in any way that could be injurious to the true interests of home defence. The hon. treasurer is Mr. Stewart, the Public Trustee; while Mr. Percy Harris, the well-known M.P. and member of the London County Council, as hon. secretary, will, we feel con- fident, prove a tower of strength in the difficult task of organ- izing and co-ordinating the branches in every part of the kingdom. We cannot find space to go through the whole executive body, but will only say that we note in the Military Committee, the General Committee, and the Finance Com- mittee names which should inspire confidence. The aims and objects of the force are thus described :-
" (1) To encourage recruits for the Regular and Territorial Army.
(2) To encourage men not of age for service in the ranks, or otherwise disqualified for service, to drill and learn the elements of musketry in their spare time.
(3) To co-ordinate all existing organizations with similar objects and to promote uniformity in their rules and regulations."
We may add that the conditions under which the Govern- ment have consented to recognize the Central Association of Volunteer Training Corps, though strict, are thoroughly sound, and no sensible supporter of the Corps should have any reason to quarrel with them. A great many questions will, however, have to be settled quickly, one of the most
important of which is the selection of a uniform. According to the Hague Convention, all that is necessary to give the Home Guards the status of combatants is that they should act in coherent bodies under responsible officers, and should wear some distinctive badge which will make them easily identifiable as combatants. Theoretically, of course, a conspicuous armlet should be sufficient for this purpose. Undoubtedly, however, it would be far better that the Home Guards should have a true and distinctive uniform, and we hope, therefore, that a sensible and not too expensive one will be designed with as little delay as possible. It should have an unmistakable military character, and should be one which will never afford the enemy any excuse for treating its wearers as civilians masquerading as soldiers. Men who undertake to act as Home Guards must be given the maximum of protection which it is possible to give them. Beyond this, it is unquestionably much easier to obtain from men in uniform than from those in ordinary dress that obedience to orders which is essential for all military forces. There may be substitutes for almost everything else in war, but there is no substitute for discipline, which in the last resort is only another word for animated co-operation.
So rapid has been the growth of Home Guard corps that it was stated at the Guildhall on Wednesday that they already numbered a million men. We can hardly doubt that when the new Association have got to work, and have made the country understand that their activities are now not only sanctioned but encouraged by the War Office, these numbers will soon be doubled. When they are we shall begin to realize how great is the debt the country will owe to Lord Desborough and his colleagues. In the first place, these two million men spread throughout the country may form a very real source of strength, pro- vided that they know how to handle their rifles and how to obey orders, and, further, know how to use the pick and shovel and to entrench themselves. Next, the effect of the formation of these bodies on recruiting will be very great. A man who is himself doing for home defence all that be is allowed to do owing to his age will be an infinitely more effective recruiting agent than the man who is doing nothing. To such a man an able-bodied man of military age cannot say : " You want me to go and fight your battles, but you won't fight them for yourself." The recruiter of non-military age can always answer : "I am doing all I can, and no man can do more. Can you honestly say you are doing that?" In a word, the men of military age will be set apart. On one side the Boy Scouts and the Cadets will be giving them the lead of youth, and on the other side the men past military age will be at work drilling and shooting at the butts. For those who are sandwiched between the old and the young, the question, " What are you waiting for?" will indeed be a poignant one. We want to mus- ter and set apart the men of military age, and nothing will help to do this more effectively than the formation of Home Guards on the lines of Lord Desborough's Association.
As a postscript we desire to say a word on the subject of digging, which we have already mentioned, aid which was also touched on at the meeting at the Guildhall. After discipline and rifle shooting comes entrenching. We suggest, as a practical proposal, that every corps should practise its men at least once a week in trench digging. There ought to be no difficulty even in towns in inducing some patriotic man to lend them a piece of ground for the purpose. Further, in every district two or three model trenches should be prepared under expert direction. Trenches are not very difficult things to dig, but there are right ways and wrong ways of constructing them, and one practical example which can be inspected and copied is worth a hundred directions on paper. Spade- work has its fascination as well as marksmanship, and we do not doubt that, when once the corps realize the import- ance of good spadework, in a month or two many of theta will become so efficient, that, if it ever comes to home defence, a weary field army may find with delight that they can always get positions prepared for them by the Home Guards quickly and in the very best possible manner. Efficient entrenching is a matter for military pride second only to efficient marksmanship. Lord Brougham once said of the Duke of Wellington: "That man would serve his country with a pickaxe and a spade if he could serve her in no other way." The saying is too long for a motto, but it may well inspire our new Home Guards.
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