100 N.Z. VOLUNTEERS

Grey River Argus, 5 February 1941, Page 3

100 N.Z. VOLUNTEERS

WANTED FOR SHIPS As Radio Operators I Per Press Association] WELLINGTON February 4. An appeal to youths between the ages of eighteen and twenty, and to men under the age of thirty, who are not fit for military service, to join the mercantile marine as radio operators was made in a statement issued to-day by the Minister of Marine (Hon. R. Semple), and the Minister of Defence (Hon. F. Jones).

It was explained by one Minister that, in the interests of the safety of shipping, it was necessary that all of the overseas ships should carry three radio operators, and that the coastal vessels in which the duty of radio operator was at present carried out by the mate, should carry at least one operator. That would require the services of nearly one hundred additional radio operators, and to provide these men, the Union Steam Ship Coy. of New Zealand, Limited, had undertaken to train candidates in its Wireless School in Wellington. The course would last for about two months, although candidates who already possessed some knowledge of radio, or Morse, would probably be passed as qualified in a shorter period. At the end of the course, the qualified operators would take service in merchant ships in the ordinary way. The certificates to be granted to these operators would be provisional certificates, and they would be issued for the duration of the war only. The candidates would receive the wages laid down in the existing award, after being signed on in ships. The Ministers said that men who undertook this work would know that fhey were performing a war service as important and as real as the men in the lighting services. Candidates should write to the Manager of the Union Steam Ship Company, Wellington giving their full name and address’, and age, and stating whether they possess any radio or Morse qualifications.