CALL-UP FOR ALL

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20627, 1 December 1941, Page 7

CALL-UP FOR ALL

BRITISH MEN & WOMEN NEW CONSCRIPTION BILL NO RESERVED JOBS (Elec. Tel. Copyright—United Press Assn.) (Reed. Nov. 29, 9.30 a.m.) LONDON, Nov. 28. Every man and woman in Britain will be liable for conscription unde' a bill which Parliament is likely tr pass within a fortnight. The Prime Minister, Mr. Winston Churchill,. in announcing details of Parliament’s next meeting, said the Government’s powers would not be limited by age, sex, class of employment, but in practice the immediate plans envisage the call-up of men from 18 to 50 and women from 18 to 40 and also the conscription o younger women for the Wrens, A.T.S and W.A.A.F.S., with a proviso thai they will not be compelled to serve ir combatant branches like search!igh. and anti-aircraft units.

Tht principle of reservation bj occupation will disappear by raising the age of reservation by a year each month after Christmas. Most women and older men will be drafted intc war industries and civil defence, anc men over 40 will be employed or “second-line” jobs.

Special tribunals will deal wit! cases of .hardship, including worrier with special domestic ties and wive: of servicemen.

The first step is likely to be the call-up of women from 20 to 25 foi the A.T.S., for whom 200,000 arc needed immediately. Large numbers will not be affected by the bil because they are already considerec to be in jobs best serving the war effort.

The Parliamentary ' Secretary of the Ministry of Labour stated in the House of Commons that the number of women registered in the 1917 to 1920 class was 1,265,036. Four women have been prosecuted for failing to comply with the directions.