LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.
THE PROGRESS' OF THE VOLUNTEERS.
[TO THE EDITOR OP TEI4 SPROTATOR."]
Ste.,—The Spectator and its readers have' done so much for the Volunteers that I think they are entitled to know some- thing about their activities. The most obvious duty ,for these Veteran Corps is patrol and guard work. In certain counties hundreds have been regularly employed in this way, and miles of railway and bridges have been entrusted entirely to their care. Some of the words of the distinguished General in command of this area are worth quoting. He writes, under date October 5th, 1915 :- " On my taking over command in these parts I heard much of the zeal with which they (the Volunteers) have thrown themselves into training, and that they wore desirous of doing something for the good of the cause, especially in the nature of Home Defence. I took an early opportunity of inspecting several corps, and was much impressed by their fine bearing, and took them into my confidence by describing to them the nature of the duty which, if they would undertake it, would help me more than anything else in my plans for repelling an invasion. . . . How splendidly they responded to my appeal you know, but. probably I alone have been able to gauge how enormously their work has added to the efficiency of my scheme for the protection of our coasts."
These men have been doing this arduous and responsible work—and to patrol a mile or two of railway siding on a damp, foggy night is no child's-play—without pay or emolu- ments. The corps have not onlyto provide their uniform and equipment—and that is a responsibility they lightly undertake —but also their rations and railway fares. Nothing is provided by the Government: the work is done on the individual responsi- bility of the G.O.C. who considers it necessary and has no one else at his disposal to do it. But such is the patriotism of the Volunteers that a statement by the General that the work is necessary for the safety of the kingdom was quite enough to obtain the necessary response. Not only do these public- spirited Volunteers get no fee or reward, but they have no defined status, and it is doubtful what their position would be if they received or inflicted bodily harm. Personally, I have never hesitated to recommend corps to undertake duties on the written request of the local G.O.C. : no Court would convict a man, chargod with manslaughter, who could show proper authority for his act: and neither the Government nor Parliament could ignore the claim of a man's family who died in discharge of his duty as a Volunteer. But the fact that they undertake the dreary duty of watch and ward without any defined status accentuates the patriotism of their action.
While on the subject of status, however, it might be worth while to mention how authorities, other than the War Office, are treating the V.T.C. The Admiralty in certain areas have thought fit to employ Volunteer Training Corps on coastguard work. They provide each man. with a warrant and a sword- stick. You can understand what a moral force it is to a man to grip a weapon not bought at a neighbouring gunsmith's but provided frop the Government store, and to know that safe in his pocket is a warrant of authority bearing the stamp of the British Admiralty. He is likely to show far more fight than the man who is only too conscious that he is undertaking work that has not even Government recognition. But that is only by the way: this coastguard work is another of the activities where the Volunteers are justifying their existence.
Perhaps the most liberal treatment received by Volunteers can be found in the scheme devised by the London County Council for the corps assisting the London Fire Brigade. It was considered expedient to have a special reserve available in case the advent of Zeppelins caused exceptional outbreaks of fire. The Central Association was approached and asked to provide a permanent picket of fifteen men at the Southwark Headquarters throughout the twenty-four hours, both to guard the telephone-room, through which the whole system of London fire-fighting works, and to be trained in brigade work. The County Council provided the men with proper quarters, beds, overalls to protect their uniforms when attending fires, and allowances to cover the whole cost of their food when on duty. The work was entrusted by the Central Association to the " London Volunteer Rifles," and so successfully have the men discharged their duties that the night picket has been increased to twenty-five, and another detachment arranged for at the corps' own headquarters at St. Pancras. These men have attended dozens of fires, and at the recent Zeppelin raid their behaviour was in marked contrast to the hundreds of amateurs who volunteered their services. I am revealing no secret when I say that the Chief Officer of the Brigade was sceptical at first about their employment. His experience of amateur firemen had not been fortunate, and he doubted whether a Volunteer Training Corps would be any better. That they have succeeded is undoubtedly due to their military training and habits of discipline and smartness, inculcated into them as members of a corps of soldiers.
I am afraid I am trespassing far too much into the valuable space in your columns, but I cannot close this letter without reference to three other activities of the Volunteers—viz., trench-digging, munition-making, and last, but not least, recruiting. The first requires a letter on its own, and I hope one of your readers who has tasted of its joys will be inspired to write a description for you. Suffice it to say, General Ruck, in charge of the London defences, called on the Volunteers in and around London to come and work on its defences. He offered railway warrants, trenching tools, and training. The Volunteers have nobly responded to his call, though there is still room for hundreds in this fascinating work. The corps have to arrange for their own billeting and food, and, needless to say, there is no pay attached to it. It is really navvies' work, but no navvies are available, and the trenches must be dug, and are urgently required. Apart from its utility, the training is invaluable. The art of trench-digging is an essential part of a soldier's training, and the man who have gone through this experience will be able to dig themselves in in a way that will enable them to vie with the best troops in Europe.
General Sir O'Moore Creagh reported in the highest terms on the work viewed on his tour of inspection. The men, besides trench-digging, aro to be taught trench-manning and trench- fighting, and if any of the scoffers come across some of these London defences on a Sunday ramble in the country I think it will set them furiously to think.
The Volunteers have their limitations, but they have certain advantages over the Regulars, and not the least of these is their adaptability. An example of this can be found in the following incident. One Saturday at 12.30 p.m. a Staff officer from the Trench Warfare Supply Department called at the Headquarters of the Central Association and stated that "some munition had to be completed at a certain factory, over the week-end." He was good enough to say that experience in the provinces showed that the work would be more expedi- tiously done by the V.T.O. than by any other means. He asked for a detachment of thirty men under an officer to parade outside the works at 6 o'clock that night, and a relief detachment to come on at midnight and work to 6 a.m. The nearest corps available was the Hammersmith V.T.C., but it is no disparagement to that unit to say that any other unit, I believe, would have responded with equal alacrity. However, at 3 o'clock that afternoon the corps happened to be on parade ; the call for service was read out, and every officer and man present unconditionally volunteered for duty. The work asked for was done to time, and the stuff caught the train just in time to assist in the great advance that so recently thrilled the whole Empire. I was assured by the factory manager that if it had not been for the V.T.C. these munitions could not possibly have been despatched, as there was not a man available for the work. So satisfied was the Department with the men that they have been called up again since. The most recent testimony is in a letter from the Department, which says that they did their job "during the night in time to catch a train from Charing Cross in the early morning, which enabled the whole consignment to reach its destination in France to-day—a result which bad been thought hardly possible, but which it was very important to achieve." In passing, I should like to bear witness to the efficiency of this Government Department. Written authority was given for the employment of the men, the Department took complete responsibility in case of accident, and the men were paid at the rates prevalent for the kind of work done.
I cannot conclude this letter better than by a reference to recruiting. There is still an impression abroad that, in spite of the stringent regulations of the War Office and the Central Association restricting membership in the V.T.C. to men not eligible for the Army, it in some way interferes with recruiting. Nothing is further from the truth. The recent letter from the Adjutant-General, written on behalf of Lord Kitohener, bears witness to it. There has been no one force in the country that has done more to swell the ranks of the Army. Only the other day in the Chester area a recruiting campaign was organized by the Volunteers, and immediately the numbers jumped up from an average of thirty a week to
six hundred, and that at a time when there was a general shrinkage in recruiting. Hundreds, too, have joined the Army from these corps. Last week I attended a meeting in the poor district of Bethnal Green. A man in khaki got up and told the audience he had been nine months in the borough V.T.C., had been four times rejected for the Army, and the fifth time passed through, not as a new recruit, but as a trained soldier. And this is only one case of many thousands. The idea that the Volunteer movement is hostile to, or in com- petition with, the Army has long been exploded. The recruiting officers and the Volunteers work in the closest co-operation, and it is not uncommon for the Commander of a corps to be the recruiting officer for the district.
The Volunteers have become an institution : they have existed over a year : they are a trained body of men organized territorially into companies, battalions, and regiments. That there is unrest and discontent in the force is only too true, but it is not due to slackness or apathy. They want more employment and they want more recognition. That, I believe, will come : the Central Association is not unmindful of it : the War Office is quite conversant with its needs. Meanwhile the Volunteers must go on in their great work of training for home defence in the certain faith that they are fulfilling a great patriotic purpose.—I am, Sir, &c.,
PERCY A, Hennas (non. See. Central Association a Volunteer Training Corps).
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