MEN FROM OVERSEAS

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20628, 2 December 1941, Page 6

MEN FROM OVERSEAS

NEARLY 1900 RETURN ’ f REHABILITATION PLANS

Up to the end of October no fewer than 1890 men who have been serving with the armed forces overseas have returned to the Dominion, according to a statement published in the official Labour newspaper, the Standard, which remarks that as the war proceeds the problems of rehabilitation and of providing pensions are growling. These men would include those brought back from the Middle East as. the result of wounds, sickness or accident, as well as‘sick and accident cases from England and Fiji. Not all these men are receiving pensions, says the newspaper, but the number of war pensions payable to men. who had returned to New Zealand up to that date for discharge or to those who had been discharged from the Home Defence Forces Was 1532, of which 874 were supplemented by way of economic pension.

After stating that in dealing with the repatriation problem the experience of the last war and post-war period will enable mistakes to be avoided, the Standard remarks that the Rehabilitation Act passed during the recent session provides all the machinery necessary to serve as a means of ensuring the smooth transfer of ex-servicemen to civilian occupations. Much thought had already been given to the problem by the Government, and it was expected that before long the organisation would be in running order.