E.P.S. ORGANIZATION

Dominion, Volume 36, Issue 269, 9 August 1943, Page 4

E.P.S. ORGANIZATION

Position In Wellington Surveyed TRAINING ARRANGEMENTS “The future of the E.P.S. has been determined after consideration by the War Cabinet of the general position, both iu the Pacific and elsewhere,” stated the chief executive officer of the Wellington E.P.S. at the weekend, “and in the present situation it is considered that certain reductions in the civil defence system are not only reasonable but, in fact, desirable. Should ever the threat to this country become more acute, then it might perhaps be necessary to restore the civil defence system to its original peak activity. , , t "The various districts throughout New Zealand have been classified either as vulnerable or non-vulnerahle areas, and while iu the nou-vulnerable areas, compulsory parades are not considered necessary, nevertheless, in the vulnerable areas the compulsory principle has been retained. Due to the need for a sufficient response iu an emergency of any nature whatsoever, E.P.S. regulations are being maintained and, therefore, all personnel will still legally be obliged to report for duty as and where required in the event of an instruction, whether by means of emergency warning signals, oral direction or other method. “Unit establishments in vulnerable areas have been reduced to a figure con’ sidered necessary to preserve a full and adequate service capable rapidly of restored to its original condition, and in Wellington the establishment figure now stands at slightly in excess of 2500 members in all. All members not posted to the unit establishments will be transferred to ‘reserve.’ Training on the part of unit establishments will be at the rate of one hour a month, though there is no restriction upon more frequent parades should the personnel so desire. Firewatching rosters in Auckland, Wellington, Lower Hutt and Petone are to be maintained under the same conditions as have obtained up to this date. “In most E.P.S. districts iu Wellington, E.P.S. personnel over and above the number required for the new front-line establishments are volunteering to remain in the active strengths of the units or iu the mobile squads, and provided such additional personnel volunteer of their own free will and then undertake to serve once they are accepted, the Government has intimated that it will not object to their being retained on the active list, nor will anj’ objection be raised to such persons undertaking active training, including the general personnel course, on the same voluntary basis provided, however, that the expenditure involved in such training is kept within bounds. “In Wellington among other places, reasonable quantities of petrol will continue to be made available for approved training, and licences will be issued accordingly. Applications for licences will be submitted to the Regional Commissioner’s office for recommendation before being submitted to the nearest petrol licensing authority. Compensation for Injury.

“The intimation with reference to compensation of personal injury is that in accordance with Part 1 of the Finance Act (No. 4), 1940, compensation in respect of personal injury may be paid to E.P.S. members where the injury is suffered by the member in the course of his service as a member, aud is directly attributable to this service. This would apply to any duty undertaken under the jurisdiction and with the approval of the organization concerned whether the service is voluntary or compulsory. All questions of eligibility are examined by the War Pensions Board. “In view‘ of the substantial numbers volunteering to this service, it is anticipated that the strength of 2500 will be exceeded without the necessity of invoking the powers arbitrarily to post individuals to an active strength, as it would appear that a number greater than 2500 will be prepared to contract to give the minimum service of one hour a month. In actual fact, some districts are divided only upon the question as to whether they shall parade once weekly or once fortnightly. Naturally, in the central city districts it is hardly to be anticipated that members will be prepared to travel long distances from their homes during the winter evenings, but many such individuals have signified their intention of attending meetings in residential districts, while holding themselves available for operation in the central city districts, which procedure would appear to be a satisfactory proposal. “In future it is intended to make an training and meetings as interesting as possible, and to this end we have advertised the screening dates of a series of films made available by the United States Marine Corps to the Wellington E.P.S., which latter organization may be counted as singularly fortunate in securing the opportunity to attend these screenings.’’