NAVAL RESERVE

Press, Volume LXXXIV, Issue 25551, 20 July 1948, Page 3

NAVAL RESERVE

applications for enrolment

modern training planned in N ?he th Cante?h!?r a v tio 2 ? f ° r enrolment O^ N rataig s Z J V-R- Ind division which expec , ted that the reformstinn I?* consisted since its Will™ nbe ?L y 4 ?r Of nine “ffieers! war strength ’’jnctwning on its pre<3, Up - to - date and SD a?? fU^°i d f tradit l™ ° f “masts familiar fnShJ radlt , lon which becomes J th naval naan as he underwith h the not be abolished fcainine in thf d f UCtlon of new naval reserve divisions and Wellington, Canterbury, the r-° r d - s still considered by miraltv d »nrt :O t^ miS ? lon ? rs of the Admiraity, and their local authority thp ? e „- Zealan 1 Naval Board, that before tearn flght a ship he must flrst ‘ea™ to_ be a seaman. kt there is an interest in the Roval ev<m ? av n Volun teer Reserve, the gl ) W 11! make demands on nrnvlTl., A. lts “embers, has been *he number of applications seamen°- r Tn r ”•??? ° fficers and leading seamen all with long war periods—for V? e Canterbury Division. A“ ese were made before ;«v„;^ dvertisem , e ? t calling for their se SL lces was Published. „„ The . rate of , motor mechanic in the ls is of modern significance With the increasing use of Diesel engines in small and large craft it was found necessary to make the rating specifically different from the stoker rate. Next month the Canterbury division will have a 72-feet seagoing defence naval motor-launch as part of its training equipment, and the need for a trained staff of Diesel mechanics to maintain this launch will soon be urgent.

Use of Naval Terms With nearly 200 men in the division and about 15 officers (when the division is up to full complement), the first year will necessarily be spent in elementary training and in teaching the men the “feel” of the navy. Every effort will be made to give the newlyjomed rating the impression that he is m a ship as Soon as he enters the reserve headquarters. Floors will become decks, the roof the deckhead, and the walls bulkheads. The rating will not be required to report at some specified place, he will “muste even if he is not in a party but by himself. He will learn that orders affecting the “ship’s company” are preceded by a “pipe” on the bos’un’s call. The rating will learn that his high school cadet training will be useful, but that the Navy has variations of the “slope arms” movement which permit rifles to be carried more easily under the low deckheads of ships. The “knitting-up” routine for these ratings who are selected to enter the division will be an interesting .procedure. Instruction will have to be given in the manner of sewing the black silk 'which the “men dressed as seamen” wear under their blue jean collars, the way to iron the collar, the concertina-folding of the blue serge trousers with their bell-bottoms, the tying of the black “cap-tally” which runs round the cap with the ship’s name on it, and how to get into the greatcoat without having an “Irishman’s pendant” of collar standing up at the back.

Saluting the Ouarter-deck The new ratine will learn, too. that when he salutes the quarter-deck as he “comes off" from “shore,” he is doing so, not because that is where the officers live, but in memory of the crucifix which used to stand there in medieval days as a protection against the dark powers of which all good seamen were afraid.

The officers of the Canterbury division all served with the Royal Navy during the war, and nearly all of them were lower-deck seamen, passing through the war-time naval officers’ training school, H.M.S. King Alfred, in England. They represent most branches of naval training, two of them having been in command of their own ships during the war, one of the ships being a Western Approaches frigate. Three of the officers were in the Canterbury division before the war.