THE SPECIAL MILITARY FORCE

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 63, 12 September 1939, Page 10

THE SPECIAL MILITARY FORCE

SPLENDID RESPONSE TO CALL

RECRUITS OF FIRST-RATE TYPE

The splendid response made by the young men of Wellington to the call for A'olunteers for military service within or outside New Zealand is indicated by the busy scene at the Drill Hall, Buckle Street, where the Wellington recruiting office opened this morning. An efficient'organisation is dealing with the hundreds of men who are offering, and registrations have been going ahead at high speed. By the middle of the morning approximately 500 men had been dealt with, and it is expected that the total for the day will be in the neighbourhood of 2000. An officer stated today that the men are a first-rate type and that they represent every section of the community.

Recruiting was due to start at 9 a.m. today, but by 8 o'clock there were already a few men gathered outside the door of the Drill Hall. The number soon began to grow, and the military staff made a start well before the scheduled hour. From 9 a.m. onwards men began to arrive in large numbers, by motor-car and on foot, and the attendance of traffic officers was necessary to control traffic in the area.

The big task of putting the men through is being carried out by the Central District staff, assisted by N.C.O.s and men of the Wellington Regiment. The flow of men into the Artillery Hall, where they fill in the necessary papers, is controlled in order to avoid congestion, and once inside the men received clear directions from an officer talking over a loudspeaker system. The age limits (over 21 and under 36 years), and other general conditions, are repeated at frequent intervals in order to prevent men who are not eligible for the present enlistment unnecessarily wasting the time of the recruiting staff. Inside the hall the men receive their papers and then sit at long tables where they are assisted in filling them in by members of the Wellington Regiment, who are being specially trained in this work. COMPLETE DESCRIPTION. The completed papers, which contain particulars of previous military training, civil occupation, and a general physical description of each man, are then taken to another table, where officers of the area staff are attending to the actual registration. All these various steps are being gone through in the order in which the men enter the hall so that no individual has a longer wait than his fellows. Having completed registration, the men then pass into the main Drill Hall, where they receive cards indicating the time at which they are to present themselves for medical examination. This again has been done with the object of avoidin glong waits when the men are being medically examined.

Medical examination, which commences tomorrow, has been drawn up on a carefully-arranged time schedule, and the aim will be to deal with some 500 men daily. The men will later be notified whether or not they have passed the medical examination and

have been accepted for service, and each recruit accepted will receive at least one clear week's notice of the time he is to present himself for training. As tho men are dealt with their papers then go to another staff of clerks who are compiling rolls on a card system classified on the basis of previous military training and civil occupations. It will thus be possible for the authorities when selecting the recruits to obtain men whose training and civil occupation suit them for the work they will ibe called upon to do. I Each military district has a carej fully-dissected, list of the classes of I men required both as regards previous ! military experience and civil occupation, and it will thus be possible to assure assigning men to work in which they are already skilled. During the last war there were frequent | cases of men offering themselves for special duties—motor-drivers, electricians, cooks, bootmakers, and so on— of which they had had no. previous experience, but that cannot happen under the present system. FRESH ORGANISATION. One marked feature of the recruiting is the smooth and efficient manner in which the whole organisation involved is working, and this is all the more impressive in view of the fact that a last-minute change in plans saw the area staff faced with the task of building up an entirely new organisation in a few days. The system in use today has been almost wholly drawn up by the area staff during the weekend.

Separate rolls are being compiled for three main classes—single men, married men with no children, and married men with children. Single men, for whom preference will be given for the force now being organised, form the bulk of the recruits offering, but a number of married men have also registered.

The Buckle Street recruiting office is dealing with the city area only, and Hutt Valley men are being dealt with at a recruiting office in Jackson Street, Petone.

Up to noon today registrations at Buckle Strset totalled 715, all of whom had been completely dealt with and notified of the time when they are to present themselves for medical examination.

The men who have offered their services so far are principally clerks and shop employees Ayho have apparently been able to obtain the necessary time off to attend the recruiting office. It is expected that many men who have had to remain at work today will attend the recruiting offices tonight. The offices will remain open until 9 or 10 o'clock tonight and for the remainder of this week.

W. Stewart, M. G. Browne, W. A. M. Campbell, D. M. Mclvor, A. Smith, R. J. Campbell, E. A. Reynolds, H. Ruback, W. J. Siely, E. R. Parnell, F. Brown, A. H. Duncan, A. C. McKay, I. H. McMillan, J. Williamson, L. Duncan, C. Ivamy, W. P. Gibson, R. W. McLean, J. D. Clark, E. W. Boosey, F. Kildoff, C. Green, E. I. Greennell, |J. M. Jenkin, A. A. G. Mainwaring, A. Holmes, M. Lazarus, A. P. K. Ryan, C. W. O'Connor, W. G. Hill, E. H. Ferry, F. W. Simpson, V. Fairhall, J. E. Grenvell, C. I. C. Scollay, P. P. Donoghue, G. D. Feist, W. M. R. Sutherland, M. Powell, I. R. Takarangi, T. A. O'Callaghan, A. J. Hosie.r-P. D. Wright, S. C. Gainey, D. A. Grant, G. J. Cook, D. C. McAdam, K. L. Pollock, J. C. Sullivan, H. M. Millar, W. G. Slade, R. Day, C. H. Constable, H. M. Stokes, K. W. Brown, G. H. Kernick, V. S. Moors, T. M. Stuart, J. R. Broughton, S. M. Collins, W. Wilson, W. J. McDonald, B. H. Robertson, I. D. Brough, J. S. Leith, J. B. F. Lundon, W. L. Musgrove, A. C. Felon, A. T. Mac Donald, J. M. Cossgrove, G. B. Duncan, L. O. Morgan, A. J. Small, L. G. Cope, L. W. de Roo, I. W. Tcurell, J. A. M. Brittenden, J. D. Belcher, R. C. Penman, E. A. Eagan, N. H. Hazelwood, F. I. Rowe, F. J. Edwards, D. Wildey, W. A. Mason, A. E. Tubman, W. G. Thompson, W. G. Clark, R. L. Upchurch, S. G. Gosden, A. D. Brennan, G. F. Parker, R. V. Duck, A. M. MacDougall, F. C. Barron, C. D .S. Lister, S. B. Kearns, J. E. Broad, J. W. Hazlett, S. W. Ambrose, S. J. Dean, S. Withingdon, F. M. Banks, K. J. Rapley, L. O. Wansbrough, "W. M. Larsen, I. R. Heard, D. Nicholson, G. E. Kilpatrick, J. E. de Cavalko, D. S. Ritchie, E. G. Smith, J. B. McCalman, R. D. Norwood, E. F. Heather, J. M. R. Julian, J. H. Etherington, L. J. Clements, H. R. A. Emmerson, G. C. S. Dennis, R. McKeown, F .D. McGrath, A. Grigg, B. K. Henderson, L. C. Laurenson, H. S. Newton, R. Rankin, D. A. Haswell. B. C. FitzGibbon, C. S. Locke, T. M. Hood, A. G. Martin, G. R. Shepherd, M. D. G. Spivas, A, J. Escott, L. S. Nolan, F. J. Kember, B. Wilson, H. Davis, A. H. Taylor, J. H. Davie, H. M. Bacon, J. A. Ashurst, R. J. McGarvie, S. C. Buchanan, W. D. H. Burke, S. C. Tyrrell, H. B. Dick, A. G. Bloomfteld, R. Dawson, A. J. Paterson, D. K. Collett, T. Spittall, D. P. Gilroy, F. J. Glackin, J. C. Wright, J. C. Paine, R. C. Ktmt, H. C. Tremewan, D. L. Milne, J. Dempsey, R. G. Hutt, R. B. Brownlee, 2. W. Reynolds, D. W. Darsley, L. R. H. McNaughton, J. H. Silvester, D. A. McKenzie, M. J. Nathan, P. E. Dawson, P. Brewer, K. A. Andrews, V. J. O. Smith, F. H. Songdin, D. H. Usmar, S. Jones, H. C. Dodson, J. E. McQueen, P. J. Kirk, N. Winslade, A. H. C. Perry, ID. Waitoa, D. R. Bertinshaw, W. Williams, G. H. Capes, J. K. Elliott. R. N. Morgan, D. U. English, L. C. Macartney, H. G. Simpson, I. H. Kitt, V. H. Cording, B. T. O'Malley, J. McD. Dive, D. T. Johnstone, J. W. Cross, L. Macdonald, N. G. Simpson, D. M. Hatterly, D. W. Sinclair, I. T. G. Dunstone, G. D. Sinclair, W. J. McGluggage, K. Crampton, T. P. Winter, J. D. Simpson, C. R. McDonald, H. F. Bunckenburg, D. H. Ward, J. A. M. Gooder, J. M. Browne, A. A. Coben, H. P. Donnelly, J.. H. Goldsworthy, H. Rikihana, Bertram Andersen, M. Y. McHugh, R. L. Hutchens, T. Thornton, H. G. Burton, C. McKenzie, N. D. McColl, J. B. Simpson, W. J. Rikihana, W. A. Harris, W. L. Morison, L. Johnson, J. H. Burnette. F. J. Follas, J. J. Pike, J. Olsen, L. Bemington, A. H. Rogers, H. Pritchard, W. P. Cunningham, J. L. Mackay, J. R. A. Gunn, H. J. Lindermann, M. A. Cowen. J. W. Berry, N. F. C. Cowan, F. W. Cowan, S. Baker, M. Doyle, W. H. Bull, F. Barnard, J. K. Milne, C. S. Sinclair, T. K. Rowe, H. P. Black, J. P. McKay, P. H. Manoy, R. A. Clouston, JR.. Bray, J. Nicholls, C. L. Griffin, R. J. Smith, S. Anderson, J. G. Everett, W. E. Aldridge, J. V. Hollis, L. M. •Lynn; A. E. Harris, L. Love, C. Mcc, J. Nielsen, T. M. Keinzley, F. W. Hislop, D. M. Dixon, C. E. Braniff, H. W. Parkinson, W. K. Stone, J. Hodge, J. S. Phillips, 'J. Baxter, W. C. Hart, D. S. Peters, B. W. Taylor. (By Telegraph I'ihss Askdci.iiion > AUCKLAND, This Day. Over 1000 men, a sprinkling being Territorials in khaki, queued outside the Drill Hall this morning to enlist in the special voluntary military force. The men were of all types within the age limit of 21 to 35. Some were in sports attire and others were artisans in overalls. There were Maoris in smart suits and others in woolly lumber jackets. Clerks in well-tailored clothes contrasted with the rough workaday outfits of manual workers. Some of those offering were over age or too young, and these were turned back by a sergeant at the Drill Hall door. There was no excitement, no bravado, and no noise. A more prosaic and matter-of-fact scene it would have been difficult to imagine. DARGAVILLE. This Day. Enrolments are coming in steadily. By 11.30 a.m.: 45 had handed in their names. The recruiting officer reports that the recruits are a good type of keen young men. It is not thought that there will be any " difficulty in securing Northern Wairoa's quota of 70 men. NEW PLYMOUTH, This Day. Up till noon 220 enlistments for military service had been received at three Taranaki offices, 120 at New Plymouth, 60 at Hawera, and 40 at Stratford. MASTERTON, This Day. There was an enthusiastic response to the appeal for volunteers for the Army. Fifty-four names were handed in at the recruiting office this morning. CHRISTCHURCH, This Day. Recruiting for New Zealand's special force began at 9 a.m.. when there was a queue of more than 100 young men waiting. Throughout the morning applicants arrived in a steady stream and were put through at an average rate of 100 an hour. At noon there had been 301 enrolments and applicants were still coming forward. DUNEDIN. This Day. Recruiting for the special force commenced auspiciously this morning, about one hundred men being present at 9 o'clock, and the flow being sustained throughout the morning. Army Department officers expressed pleasure at the response, remarking on the number of serving Territorials who lined up in the queue.