N.Z. RECRUITS IN AIR FORCE

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22305, 20 January 1938, Page 17

N.Z. RECRUITS IN AIR FORCE

GOOD NAME IN ENGLAND REPORT OF ARMY MEDICAL OFFICER

(non OCB own COaaBBPOMBEHT.)

LONDON, December 29,

That New Zealand recruits coming to England to join the Royal Air Force are very highly thought cf in the service has been made evident to Dr. F. T. Bowerbank, director of medical services for the Army and Air Force in New Zealand, in discussions with officers in England. Although Dr. Bowerbank is on a private visit to England, he has had numerous discussions with officials on military medical standards.

He has investigated the changing requirements of Army and Air Force from a medical viewpoint as a result of modern developments, so that New Zealand can be kept in touch with the latest trends, and standards can be adjusted accordingly. His discussions in England will also facilitate the choice of suitable recruits for the. Royal Air Force. Intensive research has been in progress in England recently into the right type of man for various branches of flying.

Dr. Bowerbank attended the annual Toe H festival held recently in York. He is chairman of the Dominion executive and was the only New Zealander present in an official capacity. He carried one of the five New Zealand lamps lit for the first time at the festival by Lord Halifax, representing the King. The lamps were those of Wellington South, New Plymouth, Timaru, Invercargill, and Christchurch North. Another of the New Zealand lamps was carried by Mr Alexander Churcher, formerly deputy-administrator at Toe H headquarters, who not long ago spent two years in the Dominion. Dr. Bowerbank found the ceremony most impressive.

The next day 2000 Toe H members were entertained by the Archbishop of York. Representing New Zealand, Dr. Bowerbank referred to the growth of the movement in his country from three lights in 1925, to 50 to-day. Although the Dominion was the farthest part of the Empire from Britain, members there felt just as much part of the family of Toe H as £hose belonging to branches in England, he said. Dr. Bowerbank has also been investigating the latest advances in heart treatment at hospitals in London and Edinburgh. He will' for New Zealand by the Port Alma in the middle of January.