INCREASE IN DEFENCE STAFF

Hawera Star, Volume LIV, 18 September 1934, Page 5

INCREASE IN DEFENCE STAFF

PERSONNEL FROM ENGLAND HANDLING OF ANTI-AIRCRAFT GUNS (By Telegraph—Press Association.} WELLINGTON, Sept. 17. The personnel of the New Zealand Permanent Force will be increased in the near future by the addition of English specialists, who will be brought to the Dominion to train New Zealanders in the handling of the new anti-aircraft guns. It is also likely that a few Air Force officers with experience of bombers and torpedo-planes .will also be brought to New Zealand to build-up the strength of the Permanent Air Force when it is equipped with the new Vildbeeste machines. Discussing the matter to-day the Hon. J. G. Cobbe said the handling of antiaircraft guns was a branch of artillery science which had not been pursued in New Zealand in the past, and it would be essential to have the trained personnel so that New Zealand officers and men could be taught the method of handling these weapons. Likewise it was necessary to have trained men to handle the new aeroplanes, which were very expensive. They could not run the risk of damage through the personnel not being acquainted with their peculiarities. It would be the duty of the English officers to make New Zealanders acquainted w r ith the handling of the bombers.