DISCRIMINATION ALLEGED

Press, Volume LXXXII, Issue 24987, 23 September 1946, Page 4

DISCRIMINATION ALLEGED

RAILWAY OPERATING GROUP PROTEST AGAINST LENGTH OF LEAVE Dissatisfaction with discrimination allegedly made by the Government between the Railway Operating Group and other units in New Zealand’s armed forces in respect to the granting of leave was expressed at a reunion, of South Island members of the group held in Christchurch on Saturday evening. The meeting passed a resolution calling on the Prime • Minister (the Rt. Hon. P. Fraser) and the Minister of Defence (the Hon. F. Jones) to “remove an injustice to a group of loyal servicemen.” , Speaking to the resolution. Mr J. Morgan said he had been spokesman of a deputation, representative of all the union organisations of the railways, which met'Mr Jones in March. The Railway Operating Group had served oversea for three years and a half, and had carried out the service it had undertaken with great effect and loyalty. , _ _ “We were rather astonished to find that the Minister had no conception of the operations of the group,” Mr Morgan slated. “He did not seem to know that the majority had been in the desert for more than two years without leave. He evidently thought that the railways had been operated as though they had been ir. New Zealand, and that we did not know the business end of a machine-gun or the receiving end of a bomb. The deputation told him that had it not been for the group the New Zealand Division as a whole would not have been able to fight as well as it did. For nine months the group, operating under severe stress, handled 4000 tons of supplies a day at what was a critical stage of the war. Some of the heads of departments did not know this.” Text of Resolution The resolution, which was carried unanimously, was: “That this South Island reunion of the Railway Operating Group express its appreciation of the efforts of the deputation consisting of representatives of the four railway organisations which met the Hon. F. Jones, Minister of Defence, on the question of an increased allocation of leave and allowances for members of the group on their return to New Zealand from the Middle East. The group was mobilised at short notice in June. 1940, in what was. to use the words of the Hon. D. G. Sullivan, then Minister of Railways, ‘the country’s direst hour of need,’ and rendered loyal and efficient service to the country and the Empire in a most critical period, and never received its full quota of oversea leave. It is therefore the opinion of this meeting that the discrimination made between this group of servicemen and other groups in regard to leave granted on their return to this country, that is. one month for members of the Railway Operating Group and two days for every month oversea service for other groups in the division. creates a stigma on the Railway Operating Group which is keenly felt and cannot be justified. This meeting therefore calls on the Hon. F. Jones to give favourable consideration to the request of the deputation to remove an injustice to a group of loyal servicemen.”

Statement by Chairman “The apparent contention of the Government is that the Railway Operating Group was a non-combatant unit, and did not experience the risks that the division as a jvhole did,” said Mr G. J. King, chairman of the reunion committee, in a statement to a representative of “The Press” after the resolution had been Carried. “It is interesting to recall that the Railway Operating Group went into camp at one week’s notice, and consisted of approximately 50 per cent, married men. They were to have sailed within two weeks of going into camp, but owing to the presence of a raider in the Tasman—which sank the Turakina—it was not possible to escort the boat on which they were to sail. On arrival in Egypt the units were sent, within one month, into the Western Desert, where the large majority of them remained for two years to two years and a half. During that time they had approximately 21 days’ leave, while other units in the desert were entitled to seven days for everv three months’ service.

“The Railway Operating units were in the Western Desert longer than any other units, without rest, with the exception of the famous ‘Desert Rats,’ the British 7th Armoured Division. During that time they were the forward railway operating companies in every case, and were the main source of supply for the Bth Army wherever it went. At one time no fewer than five engines were out of commission through enemy action, and three of them were shot up in one day, with of course, casualties. The units were also subject to a considerable amount of bombing and machine-gunning, both on the trains and in their camps. During the retreat to El Alamein they were the last to leave the desert. ‘lt is with great pride that members recall that they brought back practically nil their rolling stock, and what little was left was rendered useless to the enemy. At the time of Alamein the units, although due to be withdrawn from the desert, were again called on to become the forward f *u de A s of l he Bth Army and supply the Army right through to Tobruk.

As these units were probably under fire as much as many of the so-called combatant units, the members feel particularly aggrieved at their treatment by the Government.”