1
THE CHINA-MAIL, MARCH 7, 1941.
NEW SYSTEM OF RECRUITING
TO INDIAN ARMY
THE RESOLUTION introduced in the In- dian State Council by General Auchinleck, the G.O.C., for the recruiting for the Indian forces from all classes, was passed unani- mously yesterday.
After reviewing the existing situation the G.O.C. said that for the last 80 years there had been no wars worth the name, civil or otherwise, within the frontiers of India proper
Before this time there were three distinct armies in India, the armies of Madras, Bombay and Bengal.
armies, parti-
CP
dficulties
Class Modification
The cessation. of armed strife | standing one and owes its existence in the country and the removal of to the
involved in war and the threat of war on the administrating a unit compr,sing north-western appreaches to fadia men of all classes and creeds and resulted to some extent in rusting of widely different habits. ine we southten cularly perhaps the Madras army.
Large-scale conversion Madrassi into Punjab regiments | "I do not say it is immutable. was carried out by Lord Kit it has been and is being modified chener and he had considerable in certain directions already. The justification for the action. Indian Military Academy at Dehre Soldiers in Northern India mad. Dun is an outstanding example, the fullest use of the opportunities a "I believe considerable pro- thus offered and then reed of gress in the abolition of class 2x- gallantry and devotion to duty clusiveness between rank and file Was Coat to nonIEN. India owes has been nade in the Royal Tu- them a great deht
dian Navy and the Indian Air Force,
to
[
CLAIMS
RUN WILD
In eighteen months of war the claims of the en- emy High Command to have sunk or seriously damaged British warships have amounted to more double the fleet than possessed by the British Empire at the outbreak of war, states an Admiralty communique.
Since the enemy repeatedly, de- clares that. British dickyards are unable to cope with the numbr of ships requiring
repair, ships clanned as seriously damaged are presumably Becountert by thes enemy IN out of action addition to those elamed sunk. The number
British which the German and Itahan High Con mands in efficial Com- "These services, however, though, muniques have claimed sunk 01 important. are relatively small | seriously damaged are as follows: forces compared
the Army, which, moreover. has its own Battleships and battle-cruisers very strong and ancient traditions. 34, "To attempt to change these traditions and introduce radical alterations In the system of Army organisation in the middle of a war would. I think, be a most hazardous experiment. "As a theory, a common sys- tem of enlistment, irrespective al
15. the army was class and creed, undoubtedly has drastically reduced and under | much to recommend iL For the these circumstances
however, hardly blame
War Expansion Despite, however, the greater opportunities for service training afforded men of the north, the of 1914/18 showed very clearly that many older but Jess well-knowi classes had by means lost their spirit.
war
In that war expansion generally speaking follower the fines of the existing class composition of the army.
After the war
we
could moment, one them for clinging | build on what we know to be
to those races and classes which arm foundation, proved themselves as soldiers for
a long period of years, instead of launching out in experiments with less well-tried material.
This war did not differ much from that of 1914.
New Units
IL soon became obvious in Indiu, as in other parts of the Commonwealth, that 2 speedy and vast expansion of the armed forces was necessary.
Traditional Lines
Aircraft-carriers 7. Cruisers 62,
Destroyers 185, Submarines 71.
Strength of the Empire fleets at the outbreak of war was!
Battleships and battle-cruisers
Aircraft-carriers 7, Cruisers 62, Destroyers 185.
must
ù
less.
Submarines 58.--British Wire-
"For these reasons, the first ex- pansion of the Army followed ment and urged that the policy traditional lines and consisted enunciated in the resolution be largely, but by no means altoge- | carried out as early as possible. ther, in the duplication of exist- Pandit Kunzru, to whose resu ing units, but progress is being|lution the G.O.C.'s was a sub- made in the enlistment of other stitute, declared it was evident the classes.
G.O.C. intended to do something and that he was anxious to carry the Legislature with him and unite India in the prosecution of the war.-Reuter.
"Last week I saw at work the first regular Bengali unit--a bat- tery of heavy artillery, Also a "Here I would like the House Territorial force battalion of the to runsider how technical and Hyderabad Regiment, which en- complicated is the process of listed solely from the province of expanding and raising an army. Bihar. Also a Madras Territorial To form new unit: one must have battalion, which though in CX- a leaven of trained officers and istence barely six months, show- ed every sign of becoming a most useful acquisition to the Army."
N.C.O.'s.
"The modern unit is a com- plicated and Intricate fighting machine taking months to 15- semble in good running order. "Generally speaking, the Indian Army is organised on a class basis, with unts each composed of one class. The system is F
The G.O.C, revealed that since War began the strength of the Madrasis Army had risen from 4,000 men to well over 10,000 and was st!!! increasing, The same process was proceed- longing in respect of other classes but it was a slow process because there were no established units from which the nucleus of Viceroy's commissioned and non-commis- sioned cfficers could be drawn.
FOR YOUR SICK HEADACHE
Sick headaches are the direct result of an unsettled stomach or
Own Leaders
of
"With the present system class composition I think it essen- tial that men of each class should have their own leaders with whose speech and temperament, they are familiar."
is
The G.O.C. announced he had already issued instructions that the old Madras Regiment, which, finally disappeared in 1926,. to be revived and restored to its rightful place in the Army List. The First Battalion of this Re-
liver, and a sure sign that you giment, which would be a regular. need a dose of Pinkettes, the ideal battalion, is to be raised forth- laxative. Two or three Pinkettes with and will carry on ils Co- taken before turning in at night leurs the battle honours of the old will make you feel it, and fresh Madras Army, some of which go next morning.
back nearly 200 years. For constipation, liverishness, "I hope before long to be able bile, to banish skin eruptions to to ensure the permanent repre- purify the breath, and för the re-sentation of other. provinces lief of piles, there is nothing more hitherto unmentioned in the Army speedily effective. All chemists List in the same war.”
scil
#
PINKETTES
The Dainty Little Liver Pils.
**
·
Uniting India
Speakers from all parties then present in the House expressed sutisfaction at the G.0.0.g-state-