MANY GRIEVANCES

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 21853, 25 October 1945, Page 4

MANY GRIEVANCES

AIR FORCE OFFICERS CONDITIONS ON ANDES HARD-LIVING PAY WANTED (P.A.) WELLINGTON, Oct. 25. Hundreds of air force officers returning in the Andes from Britain held an indignation meeting while the ship was crossing the Tasman Sea and decided to send a telegram to air headquarters asking for hard-living pay. They complained that, although they were officers, they were forced to travel under conditions that were unsatisfactory, even by third or fourth class standards. Their case is to be taken up officially with the Government. They objected to being quartered on lower decks in hammocks by the hundred and to having to do cleaning and general duties, which, as officers, they would not normally be required to do. One group took a visitor down into their sleeping quarters, where they said 130 men lived during the voyage and where only four wash-basins were available. This detail was typical of numerous grievances they were keen to air. The officer commanding the air force draft, Wing Commander J. R. Maling, Christchurch, said it had been decided some months ago that because of the shipping position all officers would have to be prepared to accept reduced standards of accommodation. That was agreed to by the various chiefs-of-stafT and the Governments concerned. Owing to the shortage of first class accommodation in the Andes, said Wing Commander Maling, a large number of officers had to travel under troop conditions. The officers concerned held a meeting while the ship was crossing the Tasman Sea and discussed the demand for some financial compensation by way of hard-living pay, which, under certain conditions, was available to air force personnel. He said he intended to carry the men’s representations to the authorities. They objected strongly to the Drinciple involved in their having to quarter as they did. Venting Their Feelings That the egg-throwers and cat-callers on the Andes were probably men who had seen little service overseas and who were taking the opportunity of venting their pent-up feelings on well-meaning officials was the expressed opinion of three air force war veterans interviewed on their arrival on the Andes at Wellington yesterday. They were Wing Commander H. L. Andrews, M.8.E., Kaitoke, SquadronLeader S. F. Browne, D.F.C. and bar, Wellington, and Squadron-Leader S. I. Baird, Wellington. Squadron-Leader. Browne said he thought the trouble was caused by men who had only recently gone overseas. They had expected a good war, but had seen hardly any active service and in some cases none at all, and consequently they were very much disappointed. Causes of Discontent Much of the discontent aboard, said Wing-Commander Andrews, resulted from o. cers being accommodated in troops’ dormitories and in quarters usually occupied by lower ranks. More than three-quarters of the servicemen aboard the ship were officers and N.C.O.’s. hey had grown accustomed to being waited on hand and foot in England and when faced with the necessity of washing their own dishes aboard and generally catering for themselves they had received rather a shock. As for the supply of eggs, most of the men concerned had probably saved them from the morning’s breakfast table. There was certainly an abundance of eggs aboard, added Wing-Commander Andrews. Some of the men would ask for great platefuls of eggs at their meals, but could c nly manage to dispose of half of them. Many untouched eggs were consequently thrown into the sluice buckets. A member of the crew of the Andes said that in his opinion the New Zealand servicemen had been “the best lot of chaps” the ship had yet carried and they were in high spirits until the Andes had left Australia.