CIVIL DEFENCE

Evening Post, Volume CXXXV, Issue 21, 26 January 1943, Page 4

CIVIL DEFENCE

COURSE OF TRAINING

Details of the course of training to be given in the Civil Defence School of Instruction in Wellington were announced in Christchurch by the South Island Regional Commissioner for Civil Defence (Colonel W. T. Churchward). "The Civil Defence School of Instruction has 11 instructors, each of whom is an expert on the subject of his lecture," he said. "In addition to;. . lectures, there will be practical demonstrations and visits to important centres such as Combined Operational Headquarters, central control room, fire .control room, hygiene section of the military camp, a United States military hospital, district telegraph headquarters, and railway operational control. One interesting lecture is 'How to Lecture," by Professor L. M. Lipson, Victoria University College. "Civil defence has been organised generally throughout New Zealand and a reasonable standard of efficiency has been attained by most units as to their general duties," said Colonel Churchward. "There is, however, much to be learned about the detailed work of each unit and there is a desirability foe a certain amount of uniformity in procedure, especially in the various districts of one E.P.S. area. Although .unit controllers are responsible for the training and efficiency of their respective units, they cannot be expected to have the time and detailed knowledge for training the personnel. "It has therefore been decided to ask each unit to appoint a local training officer, (honorary) to carry out the detailed training of the unit. A selected number of these local training officers will attend the Civil Defence School of Instruction in Wellington. The first course is from February 1 to 19. These local training officers, on returning to their E.P.S. organisations, will pass on the instruction and information acquired at the school to the other local training officers in their E.P.S. This will be done by means of lectures and demonstrations. . AIM OF UNIFORMITY. "The Minister of Civil Defence (Mr. Wilson) has stated that 'the new operational training scheme is designed to secure the maximum uniformity in training in all phases of civil defence work and-thereby, during the nonemergency period, to utilise to its full extent the man-power available for civil defence duties by encouraging and supervising the regular and organised training of personnel in all units, particularly in the larger and more vulnerable areas.' . The Minister has emphasised that the intention is so to frame the scheme that it will be readily adaptable to varying local conditions, rather than to superimpose rigid directions, which would interfere unduly with well-established and efficient local practice."