N.Z. UNIT.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 266, 10 November 1939, Page 8

N.Z. UNIT.

SCENE IN LONDON. Rush Of Applicants To Enlist. FINE TYPE OF YOUNG MEN. (Bv E. H. BLOW.) LONDOX, October 12. New Zealand House and its immediate environs, which have notseen very many visitors during the past fortnight, were scenes of great activity yesterday and to-day. Reason: The attestation and medical examination of the men who are joining the "Unit" which is to begin training for specialist work. Several days after war declared nearly S(H) names had l>een handed in to Xew Zealand House, but when these were examined it was found that over half were well beyond the age limit years, or 40 years ill the case of those who had already served in a Xew Zealand unit). Requests for interview* were, therefore, sent out to 200 applicants, and the authorities stated to-dav that practically every man had reported. Some who could not conveniently make the journey to London were examined in their own centre. I have been requested not to mention Dailies, and so I can only say that the three Xew Zealand permanent staff officers who are, in conjunction with the War Office, organising this unit are very pleased with the type of mail offering and with the fact that only a tiny percentage of them were rejected as medically unfit. It is certain that Xew Zealand will be. well represented by the five officers and the l(i() men who are finally selected for the unit. Xew Zealanders of older (reiterations who know London will doubtless be interested to learn that owing to the unsuitahility of the (iovernment offices for medical examinations the whole of the first floor of the historic Adelphi Theatre, which practically adjoins Xew Zealand House, was placed at the disposal of the authorities for this purpose 'by the manager. Here, in rooms used by some of the greatest British actors and actresses, husky young Xew Zealanders stripped, were sounded, had their eyes and ears and throat® ins[>evted and were weighed and measured. All Types Represented. Tiie majority of the specialists who did the examinations were themselves Xew Zealanders, and I had the pleasant surprise of meeting an old Grammar School friend who is following in the footstep* of a father who must be well known to thousands of ex-soldiers at home. T s|K>ke with a number of the men who made their attestation yesterday and found that all types of occupation and profession will be represented in the unit. Two of the junior officers are graduates of Auckland University College, one being now an architect in j London and the other a high School master who was on leave when the war 1 began. The tallest man to report was an ex-Wellington clerk who will celebrate his 21st birthday next week, and who registered a quarter of an incli under six foot six. Tlie physically "hardesf'-looking man was a native of Henderson, who served in the Xavy in the last war and who, according to his own statement, had been since "a farmer in Xorth Auckland, a rabbi ter and an elephant control officer in Malaya." I spoke with a Hawke's Bay art student, a wireless mechanic who had been an attendant at a Wellington hospital, a linotype operator from Hamilton, and a young fellow who told me jubilantly that, although he had lived most of his life in England, he was eligible because he had been born in Xtfseby, Otago. Another notable, recruit was a man who has spent ft good deal of his young life in exploring odd corners of the earth. His most celebrated achievement was a motor crossing of the Arabian Desert. He caused some surprise by announcing that if he was accepted for the unit he would present it with his 10 h.p. car. A grateful Colonel duly inspected this vehicle and pronounced it, a magnificent giftSound Film Taken. Yesterday afternoon some of those who were being examined had the pleasant and, 1 suppose, novel experience of being "taken" for a Pat lie Gazette. It was then that the ex-Hendersonian shone —both in the sound and silent divisions. Pathe officials announced that the film would be shipped to Xew Zealand as soon as possible.

Official* at Xew Zealand House ]ih<l some interesting stories t<> toll about tlie attempts made by non -Xew Zealanders and those over age to try to "squeeze in unobserved." The best story concerns an Australian who, basing the justice of his {ilea on a telephone call from "niv girl," en extremely suspiciouslooking letter front "mv sister,"' and the fact that he had been a seaman most of his life, claimed to 'be an ex-Welling-tonian. Xo, he had no passport or visa. Xo, he was at sea most of the time. Xo, he couldn't say where the University was in Wellington; he had never been "out that way." Xo, he didn't take much interest in polities —he couldn't remember the name of the Minister of Public Works. Undaunted by hi* confession, finally, that his sole acquaintance with New Zealand was through visiting All Blacks, lie declared that he would pay his fare out to Xew Zealand and join up with the main Expeditionary l-'orce as the papers said that "Australia won't send a force overseas." Another good story I heard came partly from an official and partly from tlie disappointed "reject" himself. He had stated in bin preliminary interviewthat he was 37 —"Just a bit over, eh? You can get me ill on that, can't you The interviewer, recognising a trier, promised to do what he could but when the military officers, sceptical about age, demanded papers, they found the applicant to be 43. He was hanging about the Adelphi, however, in hopes of a third interview as the result of which lie. hoped to be made a "cook or anything like that." Sergeant-Major Jordan. I think I am quite sate in mentioning one name; among the interested spectators at the examinations and the filming was a man who introduced himself as Sergeant-Major W. Jordan, exX.Z.E.F.

Mr. W. J. Jordan.

The unit will begin its training at one of the big English permanent camps and the War Office have arranged that the whole of the personnel will be housed i n huts and not in tents—an arrangement which should appeal greatly to Xew Zealanders now that wintei is not far off. It is expected that many of the men will eventually become specialist officers or X.C.O.'s in the Main Expeditionary Force. "I don't think I am betraying anv confidences or giving Hitler spies°much to work on when I say that, with regard to uniform, the unit, will, for tlie "present at any rate, wear British Army styles and that, sad though the thought may lie to old soldiers and new alike, the "old En Zed hat'' may be doomed! As one of the officers said to me, "Xo one is keener on our distinctive hat than me, but logic must prevail over sentiment, and in these days of mechanisation the flat forage cap is the best thing in every way."