In Hyde Park last Saturday Lord French reviewed some ten
thousand members of the London V.T.C. Enormous crowds watched the review, and to those who had not followed the work of the V.T.C. it was a revelation that these men, in spite of all official discouragement, had uniformed and armed themselves, and brought themselves to a state of soldierlike proficiency in drill which was obvious to all eyes. The Volunteers took about an hour to march past, followed by their ambulance sections and motor transport. Lord French told the commanding officers that the King would have been present but for other unavoidable engagements. He himself wished to dispel the ridiculous idea that the Volunteers were "not wanted." Nothing had struck him more when he returned from France than the voluntary soldiering of men over military age. There had been difficulties and great delay, it was true, "but now," he added, "the time of enrolment has come. You form part of His Majesty's Forces." We deal with the subject at length elsewhere.
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