Big Reshuffle of Australian Manpower

Manawatu Times, Volume 70, Issue 111, 12 May 1945, Page 5

Big Reshuffle of Australian Manpower

SUBSTANTIAL REDUCTIONS IN AIR FORCE AND ARMY

Received Friday, 10.10 p.m. CANBERRA, May 11

Substantial reductions in Air Force recruiting and training in Australia will be announced officially soon. Between next June and Decembci 30,000 men will be released from the Australian Army and it is possible that further numbers up to an additional 30,000 may also be released. This will depend upon the outcome of a comprehensive review of the Australian manpower situation to take place before the New Year. At the same time major adjustments will be made to manpower in civil industry and those employed by the Allied Works Council. The projected reallocation of manpower is necessary to make ready foi the new supply strains which Australia is expected to sustain while the war in the Pacific is being intensified pending the final defeat of the Japanese. Recruiting for R.A.A.F. air crews has almost ceased already, and it is announced officially that any future recruiting will be on a highly selective basis. About 20,000 R.A.A.F. personnel have participated in the last stages of the European war and it is not yet known whether these men will be transferred to a theatre of the Japanese war, employed as an Australian token occupation force in Europe, or returned to Australia and largely discharged.