AIR FORCE CLASSES

Evening Post, Volume CXXIX, Issue 139, 13 June 1940, Page 11

AIR FORCE CLASSES

FURTHER EXTENSION

STATEMENT BY MINISTER

SIGNAL TRAINING

The Minister of Defence (the Hon. F. Jones), in an interview today, supplemented previous statements dealing with Air Force preliminary educational. training in mathematics and science. He said that it was now considered desirable and necessary for every man, before he was drafted to the ground training school, to undergo this training.

Within a few months practically every man entering the ground training school would have passed through one or other of the Air Force instructional classes or would have completed his correspondence . course. Qualifying tests were held at intervals in order to determine the standard of the men completing their educational courses. Any man who had not quite reached a satisfactory standard would be given an extended course in order to enable him to do this. In place of . the 20 classes at present operating, more thafl 40 classes would operate as from the beginning of July. He had already been so well satisfied with the success of the educational | scheme that he was anxious that no ; delay should take place in drafting men to classes. ". From, now on an endeavour would be made to get every man selected for the air crew section of the Air Force into a class' shortly after he was seen by the selection committee and his medical. examination was complete. In this way an ample supply of men of a satisfactory standard would be available at any time, even if speeding up was considered desirable. TEACHING OF MORSE. A further development in . the scheme was the inclusion of a considerable amount of signal training in this preliminary educational training. Arrangements were being made by the Director of Educational Services . with ■the Post and Telegraph Department to provide the necessary instructors and, in some cases, the necessary accommodation in nearly every town in the Dominion.. Where the accommodation at post offices was not sufficient, use would be made of secondary and technical schools for the purpose. In this way it was hoped that every man reporting to the ground - training school would have a complete knowledge of the Morse code-and would be able to send and receive at a rate j sufficiently high to assist his further [ training. The advantage of. this preliminary signal training would, the Minister stated, be obvious to all. ! From July 1 < some 61.. signalling classes would be operating in some 36 centres in the Dominion.

Many Air Force recruits were located in districts in which it would be difficult to -obtain a sufficient number of men fora, signalling cliass.- The postal authorities were, however, asking their officers to.-assist these men to the best of their ability. It was also hoped to make use of the broadcasting system for the same purpose. Commercial Morse was transmitted at too high a speed to be of any value at all to learners, but it was hoped to arrange a short periodical broadcast at a lower rate of speed in order that those men commencing signal training might get some practice in receiving. This, the Minister "stated, was part of the general scheme to organise the whole of the country's resources for the war effort.

At present only some 700 to 800 men were receiving "instruction in the Air Force classes established' for airmen, pilots, air observers, or air gunners. It was already evident, however, that from the beginning of July this number would greatly exceed 1500 and would probably approach 2000. At this date the No. 1 long course would have been completed and the next group (No. 2 long course) would be commencing their educational work.