11,500 ENLISTMENTS

Grey River Argus, 20 September 1939, Page 3

11,500 ENLISTMENTS

IN SPECIAL FORCE Small Number Unlit * [Per Press Association]. WELLINGTON, September 19. Up to 8 o’clock last night, 11,442 men had enlisted in the special force now being formed for service within ■ New Zealand or overseas. So far, 6,933 men have been medically examined, and the result, expressed in perj centages, is: Fit,s7S, temporarily un- ' fit 29, permanently unfit 13i. In view of the very high standard of fitness, required for this force, thesd figures are held to be very satisfacI tory, and it is pointed out that the • majority of temporarily unfit men, I who have been so classed because of 'dental defects, will be classed as fit when their teeth have been attended to. Details are as follows:— Enlisted: Northern district 4,473, central district 4,104, southern district 2,865. Medically examined: 1,567, '3 237, 2,129. Fit: 967, 1,763, 1,244. Temporarily unfit: 466,1 1,003, 564. I Permanently unfit: 134, 481, 321. I WELLINGTON, September 18. Enlistments to date in the central military district, which embraces Wellington, Wanganui, Palmerston North, Napier, Gisborne. New Plymouth, and I Hawera total 4104. Of 3237 medically ' examined, 1753 were classed fit, 1003 ■ temporarily unfit, and 481 permanent- : ly unfit. Those temporarily unfit require mainly dental attention. The Wellington total to-night was 1583.

FOUR MORE AT GREYMOUTH Four further enlistments were made at Greymouth in the special military force, bringing the total to date to 178. They were:— Chisholm, David Lyle, Hokitika. Patterson, Maurice Alex, Kokatahi. Dittmer, James David, Lower Kokatahi. Senior, John Selwyn, Dobson. WESTPORT ENLISTMENTS. WESTPORT, September 18. Further enlistments at Westport up to this evening are as follows: — Bird, Ivan Austin, chainman, Domain Westport. Ball, Phillip Charles, lorry driver Westport. Duncan, Albert, sawmiller, Westport. Murchison. Knight, John M., blacksmith, Fonblanque Street. McKenzie, John, miner, Stockton. McCabe, Robert, miner, Stockton. McHerron, James F. R., watcrslder, Brougham Street, Westport. Roberts, Granity. Timlinson, James, labourer, Tiroroa. Wright, Frances James, miner, Denniston. The total enlistments are 68, but at least 12 have not passed the medical examination for overseas service.

Latest Enlistments AUCKLAND MEN EXAMINED. AUCKLAND, September 18. The medical examination of Auckland recruits for the special military force began in earnest at the Drill Hall to-day, when approximately 430 men were put through in 12 hours. Officers were dealt with on Saturday, and those examined to-day were in the main potential non-commissioned officers. The summoning of the men by postal notice naming the day and hour worked very well, and waiting in queues was reduced to a minimum. Only about half a dozen of those notified failed t 0 put in an appearance. Six medical boards worked simultaneously. The day was broken up into three shifts, and 36 doctors in all were engaged. The ratio of rejections for the day was somewhere near 25 per cent; but the great majority of those rejected were classified as “temporarily unfit.” The principal cause of this was defective teeth. It is expected that about two more days’ work will suffice for examining recruits in the Auckland metropolitan area. AUCKLAND, September 18. Two hundred and forty-nine men registered for the special force in the Northern Military District to-day bringing the total up to 4473. The area figures to-night were:—Auckland, 1972, Paeroa 866, Whangarei 601, Hamilton 1032. 1460 AUCKLANDERS PASSED AS FIT. AUCKLAND, September 19. A further 750 men for the Special Military Force were medically examined at the four centres in the northern military district to-day, with the result that 493 were classed as fit, 178 temporarily unfit, and 79 permanently unfit. The percentage of fit men was 65.7. Up to to-night 1460 men in the district had been passed for tho force out of 2317 examined. NEARLY 1,000 AT CHRISTCHURCH. CHRISTCHURCH, September 19. There were fifty registrations here) to-day. This brought the total of enlistments in Christchurch to 994. I

OAMARU OAMARU, September 18. Sixty-one recruits had enlisted at Oamaru up to noon to-day .for service in the special military force. Of these, 51 had then been medically examined. Twenty-five recruits have been passed as fit, 14 were temporarily unfit 11 permanently unfit, and one doubtful. The other recruits will be examined to-day and to-morrow. Territorial Air Force N.Z. PAY ARRANGEMENTS. PARLIAMENT BLDGS., Sept. 19. When the House of Representatives met at 2,30, Rt. Hon. J, G. Coates (Nat., Kaipara), in an urgent question to the Minister of Defence (Hon. F. Jones), asked when the rates of pay for the Territorial Air Force which was mobilised on September sth., would be announced,- and when arrangements would be made to pay the members of 1 this force. Hon. F. Jones, in reply, - said that

the rates were exactly the same as, those laid down in the New Zealand Air Force Regulations, 1938, for the regular Air Force. Arrangements were made to pay members of the Territorial Air Force which was mo-j bilised on September sth., on September 15th. and at the end of the month, namely on the same dates as payment is made to the Regular Aii' Force.

Rhodes Scholars LEAVE FOR MILITARY SERVICE. WELLINGTON, September 19. With reference t 0 the recent discussion of the position of Rhodes Scholar’s in regard to military service, the University of New Zealand advises, that definite cabled instruction has been received that the trustees will approve of the suspension of any scholarship during the holder’s war service. The trustees, it is added, will permit resumption of the scholarship when that service is completed.

German Ship Deserters COURT'S LENIENT VIEW. ALLOWED TO STAY TN NEW ZEALAND. AUCKLAND, September 19. Three ship-deserters, one Britisher and two Germans, were before the .Police Court to-day. William Hill, 30, engineer, admitted having deserted from the ship Napier Star on June 27. The police said that he was anxious to return to England, but no ship was available. “I would like to join one of the services here. I am an engineer,” said Hill.

Mr Levien, S.M.: It is rather difficult to open up the Court as a recruiting agency. You will be sentenced to 21 days’ imprisonment. Rudolf Schmueser, 19, and Paul Breur, 19, appeared on remand, charged with deserting frqm the German vessel Dortmund at Auckland, on April 12. Mr F. H. Haigh said that Schmueser formerly lived with his parents at .Hamburg. His father had been in a concentration camp for two years, because he was a Social Democrat, and was opposed to the Nazi regime. Breur, a member of the Social Democrat Party, was told that, on his return to Germany, he would go to a concentration camp, because he was found asleep on watch. Both men could return to their employment at the Glen Afton and Rotowaro mines. The Collector' of Customs said that he was instructed bv the Department to ask, that both the Germans should be deported, and held in prison meanwhile.

Mr Levien said that, but for their youth, he would deal with them as he had dealt with other deserters. He thought the best way would be to convict them and order them to come up for sentence if called upon within two years. They must understand that, yvhile they remained in New Zealand, they must be of good behaviour, or they would be dealt with.

N.Z. Wool Purchases NO PROFITEERING. PARLIAMENT BLDGS., Sept. 19. In the House of Representatives today in answer to an urgent question by Rev. C. L. Carr (Govt., Timaru), who asked if there was a possibility of undue profits being made from New Zealand wool purchases through the depreciation of sterling, the Minister of Finance (Hon. W. Nash), said that it had been agreed that no undue profits would be made by either individuals or anyone else. Conditions in U.S.A. NEW ZEALANDER’S VIEWS AUCKLAND, September 18. “Business conditions in the United States are very unsettled,” said Mr J l . R. McKenzie, on his return to New Zealand from an American visit. “There is great uncertainty regarding the future, and people appear unwilling to invest in new enterprises.”

The cause of the setback was the impending Presidential election and the international situation. Mr McKenzie said he thought that the outbreak of war would! mean that Mr Roosevelt would continue in office for a further term. He was still popular with a large section of the community, but not with the business community. It was thought that he would do all possible toi keep the United States out of war, while keeping a close watch on the safety of the Pacific.

BUSINESS IN U.S.A. AUCKLAND, September 18. “Business conditions in the United States are very unsettled," said Mr J. R. McKenzie, on his return to New Zealand from an American visit. “There is great uncertainty regarding the future. The people appear unwilling to invest in new enterprises.” The cause of the set-back was the impending Presidential election and the international situation. He thought Mr Roosevelt would continue for a further the m. He was still popular with a- large section of the community, but not with the business community. It was thought he would do all possible to keep the United States out of the war while keeping a close watch on the safety of the Pacific. PRESBYTERIAN DAY OF PRAYER. OAMARU, September 19. The Church Worship Committee of the Presbyterian Church of New Zealand, has been advised by the Clerk that the Church will be called to unite in the observance of a national day of prayer on October Ist., and is engaged in preparing a special order of service for use on that day.