DEMOBILISING THE R.N.Z.A.F.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LXV, Issue 228, 25 August 1945, Page 4

DEMOBILISING THE R.N.Z.A.F.

DECENTRALISING .WORK. (P.A.) NEW PLYMOUTH, Aug. 25. I The R.N.Z.A.F. mobilisation sections at Army Headquarters no longer exist. They will be replaced shortly by demobilisation sections to deal j with the demobilisation of Air Force i personnel. i Large-scale demobilisation is to be decentralised as much as possible and three methods of medically boarding the men are to be employed. A proportion of the men will be medically examined at R.N.Z.A.F. stations provided the establishment of the station includes two medical officers. In such cases there will be 30 medical boards at each station. Secondly, some of the remaining personnel will be posted to non-elfective pools at Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch where the numbers to be boarded each week by the Air Force medical officers will be 120 and 100 respectively. Medical boards comprising general practitioners will also deal with personnel in these cities. The third method provides for the employment of civilian medical boards exclusively in the eight outer Army areas with headquarters at Whangarei, Hamilton, New Plymouth Wanganui, Napier, Nelson, Dunedin and Invercargill. In addition to the n.c.o. at present engaged at Army Headquarters on Air Force demobilisation the sections will comprise an airman, who will be responsible for clerical duties and the collection of equipment, and, if necessary, a medical orderly to assist civilian medical boards. Arrangements for the collection of equipment are still under consideration. A bottleneck that prevents rapid demobilisation in the outer areas is the civilian medical boards' rate of releases being determined by the availability of treneral. practitioners to serve on "the medical boards.