INDUSTRIAL COMB-OUT

Evening Star, Issue 25326, 7 November 1944, Page 4

INDUSTRIAL COMB-OUT

MEN HELD ON APPEAL REPLACEMENTS FOR MEDITERRANEAN SERVICE The combing out from industry of category A men at present held on appeal for service in the Mediterranean war theatre will shortly be undertaken by the' Otago Armed Forces Appeal Board. This is in line with the policy recently announced by the Prime Minister, when he said that men in the Middle East with at least three years' service overseas would be entitled to be replaced.

For the purpose of overseas service, category A includes men between the ages of 20 and 3G, grade 1., with no more than two, children and with less than three years' service overseas.. The Appeal Board will deal first with single men, and will then proceed through the other classes. In cases where an employer has category A men who have not had any service, and also men, who have retnrned from the. Pacific, the former will be called up first. Pacific service counts for time spent overseas. A large number of men are affected by this decree, and as many of them are trained for industrial work, it is expected that a high percentage of appeals will follow the issue of mobilisation notices. The Appeal Board has been engaged for many months on regular reviews, of appeals and on applications for release from the Army and the-Air Force, but it is expected that the sittings will be considerably increased to doal with the appeals. Two sittings of the board will be held next week, on November 15 and 17, and from then onwards it will sit fairly regularly. Circulars dealing with the policy to be adopted in connection with the ro> views have been distributed to the secretaries of appeal boards, and Mr W. J. Blackler. secretary of the local board, stated that information as to the procedure would be available to the employers of the men called up or to the men themselves.