EMPIRE AIR PLAN

Evening Post, Volume CXXIX, Issue 147, 22 June 1940, Page 11

EMPIRE AIR PLAN

PROGRESS REPORT

DOMINIONS' EFFORT

WELL AHEAD OF SCHEDULE

(Received June 22, 1 p.m.) 1 I • ' . RUGBY, June 2IV> The arrival in England of two fur* ther units of the Royal Canadian Air Force, and the fact that the first batch of pilots in Canada is now standing by for overseas, service gives evidence that the Empire air training scheme, which is v well ahead ot schedule, is going to prove of vital importance in the war. In Canada, of 111 units which are to be established—including 67 training schools, schools for the staff alon» numbering 40,000 men, and aerodromes) —81 units are now working and sites have been surveyed for the remain* ing 30. Already 25,000 young Canadians have entered their applications at the recruiting stations in the Dov minion, and 5000 are being called,up for preliminary training. Recruiting for the ground staff goes on at the rata of 300 a week. To: assist this work 71 officers and about 200 airmen of the E.A.F. -went to Canada, last February. . . AUSTRALIA'S BIG EFFORT. In Australia 84,000 applications have been made to join the Empire Air Force—l4,ooo for air crews and 70,000 for the ground staffs. Of these, 3360 have been accepted for the ground staffs, of whom-two-thirds are already; serving. The Australian War . Cabi-net-has decided that the total of recruits to March, 1943, will be 57,473, comprising . 14,300 pilots, 16,173 air crews, arid 27,000 ground personnel. To help with the training at 36 schools that are to be opened, the services of officers and men of the R.A.F. hay« been obtained, and to this end the Aus» tralian' Government has also enlisted 250 experienced civilian pilots. Fitters, moreover, are to be trained at an engineering school with a capacity for 2000 men. THE NEW ZEALAND SCHEME. In New Zealand over 4000 men have registered for 'training and 1100 have been accepted. By the end of 1940 New Zealand will have facilities for training 900 pilots a year arid for the initial training of a further 500 pilots and 1500 observers and air-gun-ners who will complete their training in Canada. Thus, when the scheme is .in full operation, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand will produce no fewer than 20,000 pilots and 30,000 air crews j every year. '-■■''