AIR FORCE

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 172, 23 July 1941, Page 13

AIR FORCE

EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN (0.r.) WELLINGTON, Tuesday. "We are at present considering the whole quest ion i»f employing women for various duties at stations of the Royal New Zealand Air Force, including those at Auckland," said the Minister of Defence, the Hon. V. Jones, in an interview to-day. He added that the Government was well pleased with the success of women employed at Rongotai. Harcwood and Wigram. The provision of accommodation was a problem at some stations. Mr. Jones said. It might he necessary to build suitable accommodation for women workers in some places where it was not easily possible to provide transport to and from the stations. This applied to the Auckland stations and to some others, but the question was being fully investigated. The Minister said that among the points receiving consideration was the possibility of training suitable women to carry out part of the maintenance work on aircraft. It would not be advisable to engage women to replace men who were being trained in aircraft maintenance in New Zealand and were then being sent overseas, but there might be aspects of the work that could well be done by women, freeing men for other duties.