Evening star., 1942-02-11

Henry McLemors. are successful 1t
will become the center Of much
civilian preparation for the entire
Nation.
For more than year and a half
Santa Barbara has had a Home
Guard unit of civilians. 1t wasn't
organized to give citizens the pleas
ure of wearing pretty uniforms or
an excuse to get few nights out
week to drill. The men have been
properly instructed in the use Of
the rife, the hand grenade and the
method of fighting from cover.
The driving forces in this Or
ganization are Buell. Hammett, cap
tain of field artillery In World War
I, and a Chamber of Commerce that
isn't content to devote itself to send
ing out pretty pictures of the town.
Dragging of its weather, or arrang-
ing baby parades.
Now the Home Guard unit Is
ready to expand. 1t wants to help
all other American cities prepare its
civilians for war duty. With the
help of such men as Henry Luce,
Edward Murrow and Charles Nord-
hoff, 1t has contacted Tom Whit
ringham Of England and invited him
to come to this country and estab-
lish Home Guard school.
Mr.. Wintringham's name may not
mean much to you, but it should.
He is the man who fathered and
established the magnificent Home
Guard of England. 1t was Mr..
Wihtringham who commanded the
International Brigade of the Loyal
ist Army in Spain, and with a hand
full of men held of for an unbeliev-
able time Gen. Franco with his
trained troops.
When that war was finished Mr..
Wintringham returned to England
and suggested that the armed
forces of his country be trained in
the new and vital guerrilla warfare.
He was not favorably received until
after Dunkirk, when he was called in
and requested to start a school for
the training of Home Guard officers.
A school was established outside Of
London and from a few thousand,
the Home Guard increased in Eng
land until it now numbers more than
two million men. His training was
so successful that he was requested
to lecture to the Regular Army
troops and his methods are now
being used by the Regular Army as
well as the Home Guard.
Mr.. Wintringham has agreed to
come to Santa Barbara and head
the first Home Guard school to be
established in the United States. All
that can prevent his coming will be
refusal by the British government
or a refusal by this Government to
allow him to come here. 1t Is not
likely that there will be any such
refusals.
In preparation for his arrival, the
city of Santa Barbara, the county
of Santa Barbara, the Santa Barbara
Foundation and several citizens have
raised sufficient funds to establish
and operate the school for six
months. Land and buildings for the
school have been donated.
If the school goes through (and
it's cinch it wild Home and State
Guard officers from all over the
country will be invited to attend and
learn from the man who knows all
the answers. No group in England
has received more praise from mill
tary and government authorities
than the Home Guard and its skill
and strength is one Of the main rea-
sons for England's confidence that
any attempted Nazi invasion would
be suicidal for the Nazis.
In a letter to Mr.. Hammett, Mr..
Wintringham has this to say about
the development of powerful Home
Guard in the United States:
I'm Spain I trained Americans to
become officers of the International
Brigade I found them to be the
most adaptable of all the nation
alities there. Although I have never
been in the States, I know its mill
tary history fairly we'll. I do not
believe it is matter Of importing
foreign ideas to America, but of de-
veloping two things: The excellent
American traditions of Indian fight
ing, minute men, Morgan's Rifles,
ETC., on the tactical side; and on the
technical side, the American mastery
of machinery that has made your
unmilitaristic Nation invent and de-
velop all the arms that matter
machine guns, tommy guns, aero
planes, tracked vehicles"
Don't forget something else we in
vented Mr.. neutrality-suspicious.
for Congressmen and dancers as de-
fense heads.
distributed by McNaught Syndicate. IncD
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