NO PROMISCUOUS SHOOTING

Presiding at the Essex County Territorial Association meeting, in London, on Wednesday, the Earl of Warwick (Lord Lieutenant) referred to the Home Department instructions regarding steps to be taken in the unlikely  event of invasion, and said: “I have a perfect horror of statements that are made concerning promiscuous shooting on the part of the civilian population should an invasion occur. This would only result in the most terrible reprisals, and the horrors suffered by Belgium would be reproduced here. The inhabitants of the country who desire to be of service should place themselves under some discipline or authority, so that there may be no carrying out of the advice of those who advise promiscuous shooting in the country.”

Royal Leamington Spa Courier 4th December 1914