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Legion of Frontiersmen of the Commonwealth by 2Lt Geoff Blackburn
Patron: Countess the Rt Hon Mountbatten of Burma CBE CD JP DL AMM |
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FOUNDER VISITS AUSTRALIA
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On his first visit to Australia, Captain Roger Pocock, founder of the Legion of Frontiersmen, passed through Fremantle on the Liner, Nestor on Saturday. He said that as a result of his visit it was hoped that a "Regiment" of the Legion would be established in this state and during the liner's stay in port he occupied himself to that end. He will visit units of the organisation in the Eastern States and then go to New Zealand, China and Canada.
Captain Pocock said that the Legion was established for the "safety, honour and welfare of our Sovereign and his Dominions." It comprised mainly war trained veterans, serving in uniform under appointed leaders and "ready for war."
"But there are already many societies of old soldiers, are there not?" he was asked.
"Just enough to look after all the old soldiers in trouble," he answered. "That is not our job. The others belong to the past. We belong to the future - for National and Imperial defence. It is important to remember too, that we carry government authorisation. We serve under the Home Office and in England our job is the defence of the civil population. Our duties in Australia have still to be defined by the Commonwealth Government.
THE LEGION IN 1914
At the outbreak of the Great War, he said, the strength of the Legion was 17,500 men and it had its own battalions - "Princess Pat's" in Canada, the Rand Rifles in South Africa and the 25th Royal Fusiliers in East Africa. About 9,000 members were lost in the Great War, but the numbers were now rising again. In Australia there were "squadrons" in Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and in Launceston, and, in time of trouble, "Regiments" would be formed in those centres. During his recent visit to South Africa, new "squadrons" had been formed at eight centres. The Legions "Regiments' were the only ones in existence which were allowed to take the field without a long course of training. They were already trained, organised and equipped and could mobilise in a day. Membership of the Legion was inexpensive. There was an entrance fee of 2/6, a subscription of 2/6 and a charge of three guineas, paid by instalments for uniforms.
Discussing plans for the formation of a West Australian unit, he said that he wanted it named the Evelyn Ffrench Command, after a notable West Australian Frontiersman, Evelyn Ffrench. "He was a stock rider and station manager in the Murchison District," Captain Pocock said. "A horse once kicked him, injuring his spine and never afterwards was he entirely free of pain, yet while serving in the South African Field Force (in the Boer War) he was twice recommended for the Victoria Cross. He joined the Legion in 1905, having, under the name of Jeffrey Silant, earned an international reputation as a horseman and stockwhip expert. In the Great War, he received 27 shrapnel wounds from the waist down and it was said that he would never walk again, but at 42 years of age he got into the Royal Air Force and fought in France. Three days after the armistice he was killed when a pupil crashed with him. The propeller of the plane now hangs over a closed doorway in the Savage Club, London. It would be fitting that a West Australian Legion regiment were formed in the memory of Evelyn Ffrench.
"You spoke of the Legion being ready for war. Do you think there is any danger of war at present?" he was asked.
"I don't know," he replied. "In the Legion we expel any member who talks politics. Japan seems to be ready for war - is Australia?"
"Isn't that politics?"
"No, that's strategy. If Australia is in danger the Legion can bring to the scene a thousand men from New Zealand, a few hundred from South Africa, followed by a regiment from Canada and another from England. The Legion also wants Australia to help if there is trouble in a sister dominion. We do not want to interfere with the job of the Government. We do not recruit youngsters who can join the national defence forces. The governments have left the war veterans to organise themselves - free to defend the State. We cost the Government nothing."
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AN ADVENTUROUS LIFE Seventy years of age, but still agile, heavily built and erect in stature, Captain Pocock is a picturesque personality. The son of a commander in the Royal Navy, he was educated at Ludlow Grammar School and as a youth he served in the Royal North-west Mounted Police during the second Riel rebellion. Pensioned off because of the effects of having been frozen when on duty, he became a missionary in New Caledonia. Later he shipped as a seaman with a Yokohama pirate craft. In the years that followed, during the close of the last century, he was engaged in various times in some 30 trades and callings associated with outdoor life. In 1899, he rode along the Rocky Mountains from Canada to Mexico. Then he became a scout in the South African Field Force. Next he travelled to Greenland. He founded the Legion of Frontiersmen in 1904. Service in the Great War followed. When the armistice was signed he undertook research work with deep-sea fisheries and until 1923 he continued to move about. In recent years he has been occupied with authorship and in attending to the affairs of the Legion. He has written many works, including plays, an autobiography and stories of adventure and crime. He now lives in London. |
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