All Volunteers must understand ihat in any army in the world it is not possible for men to become commanders immediately, and there are a lot of tasks (many of them menial) which must be done by all soldiers to enable their particular regiments or units to be self-contained. A number of remarks were made to me by re-fruits from Shanghai saying that they did not join the army to clean barracks and equipment, and barrack squares, ete, Somebody must do this type of work, It is neither feasible nor economic for a modern army to have innumerable ¢amp followers to every private soldier, to do the many fatiguing tasks, and so confine the soldiers to actual fighting only, The burnishing of buckets and equipment, and heel-plates of boots may not seem to a man to be particularly useful, but between the hours training and recreation, it is essential to build up or maintain the igh standard of personal and collective cleanliness, self-pride, smartness and such things which' make the British army the envy and the British Tommy the finest fighting man (under ¿ll circumstances) that there is in the world, Also it keeps him from setting into trouble, and looking at [it from all angles the time is certain-lly not wasted!
$34 a Month In understand their nett pay is approximately Singapore $34 a month, which should be ample to take care of normal requirements, It will of course not be enough to lead the same type of private lives which many have been accustomed to in Shanghai; but if they are good soldiers, interested in their work and do it properly, there should be neither the desire nor the opportunity for such a course.
A lot of men are particularly keen on going to England. Incidentally their life there as recruits will certainly not be so easy as the life in Malaya, They must also consider the fact that as regards normal manpower there are ample troops in England to take care of England as the wastage up to date has been practically nil. Malaya is one of the jewels of the British Empire, particularly rich in many essential commodities, and as such must be de-lended at all cost.
Even if they get no fighting in this part of the world the fact of having very large and well-trained forces there will restrain any other nation who may cast covetous eyes on it, and the fact of serving in this really vital force even though such service may not win a Victoria Cross is absolutely essential, and it is only common sense to make up as large a force as possible from the Far East than to send these men to England, train them, and send other troops to Malaya, using vital shipping space.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.