TRAINED BRAINS

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 123, 27 May 1941, Page 6

TRAINED BRAINS

TECHNICAL NEEDS BRITAIN'S CALL TO U.S. (By GAULT MacGOWAN) LONDON, April 25. The revelation of Great Britain's growing need for both man power and brain power, regarded as the most significant news of the weekend, is substantiated by President Roosevelt's appeal tor 1000 American doctors to volunteer for service here.

The registration of 300.000 women on Saturday and the announcement that they would be permitted for the first time to enter combatant service as anti-aircraft gunners, reveals today the strain which the far-flung battle line already has placed on Great Britain's resources.

While the modern mechanised warfare has been sparing of human casualties as compared with the pitched battles of the world war, its demand for brain workers and the thousands of jobs requiring skilled or semi-skilled labour exceeds the supply.

The R.A.F. seems to get the pick of intelligent young college men. who ask no higher service than that of the fighter plane pilot, with the result that the gun, tank, signal and engineer corps have been overworked to maintain their efficiency. Competing also with the army's brain power is the system of reserved occupations, presenting to Mr. Ernest Bevin, Minister of Labour, a problem of how to maintain in civil life successful key men who formerly volunteered for military service.

Since Britons are less collegeminded than Americans, it follows that there is a smaller reserve of trained minds here, and the continuing rise of the income tax means that fewer fathers in recent years could afford to send their sons to the universities. Thus an increasing demand for American technicians is expected.

The shortage of doctors is the first significant sign that as a consequence of the demands of civilian defence plus military operations numbers of young British research students are leaving their laboratories for first aid work, thus increasing vacancies for American scientists.

Obviously the recruiting of college girls improves the situation, but this supply is not inexhaustible, and their efficiency in military duties remains to be proved, although military officials have praised highly the previous demonstrations of 'their ability.—("Auckland Star'' and N.A.N.A.)