MEDICAL CORPS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXIII, 12 January 1940, Page 7

MEDICAL CORPS

MINISTER’S APPEAL FOR RECRUITS SERVICE TO FIGHTING FORCES HIGHLY SPECIALISED UNIT [United Press Association] WELLINGTON, This Day. Recruits are wanted for the New Zealand Medical Corps, particularly for service with field ambulances and general hospitals, which will proceed overseas in the near future. In a statement last night, the Minister of Defence, Mr Jones, paid a tribute to the medical service which, he said, was a highly specialised unit, rendering outstanding service to the fighting forces. “Men serving in the N.Z.M.C.,” said Mr Jones, “though not actually engaged in fighting can rest secure in the knowledge that they are very important indeed to the well-being of the army, which could not exist without them. The part they play in keeping the fighting forces in the field is very big. “Particularly in demand are men who have had experience in territorial units of the N.Z.M.C. or in St. John Ambulance work or Red Cross; in fact, all who have a knowledge of first aid. However, even though a man may lack the foregoing qualifications that fact does not necessarily debar him from being accepted for service with the Medical Corps, as cny man possessing initiative and intelligence can be given the necessary training after arrival in camp. “The work is intensely interesting and varied, and calls for more than average ability,” said the Minister, “and those who consider they have the necessary qualifications or aptitude should enlist at the nearest defence office, giving particulars of their qualifications and experience, and expressing their preference for medical corps work. Those who are considered suitable will then be drafted to the N.Z.M.C.” SECOND ECHELON VOLUNTEERS NO. 7 AREA OF CENTRAL DISTRICT EXCEEDS QUOTA HASTINGS, 11th January. The response to the appeal for volunteers from No. 7 Area of the Central Military District has been such that enlistments are now well in excess of the quota required for the second echelon. Other districts have not achieved such results, however, and in consequence 162 men who would normally have formed the nucleus of the third echelon for this district have now been called on to make up the deficit in the quota required for elsewhere. They will leave for camp next Tuesday. Seventy-two volunteers have been called up under this arrangement from Hawkes Bay, Gisborne is supplying 57 men, and Masterton 33.

FOUR LIEUTENANTS CALLED UP WANGANUI, 11th January. • Four officers of tthe Wellington-West Coast Regiment, Lieutenants E. T. Pleasants and R. L. Haines (Wanganui), G. S. Roydhouse (Carterton) and E. H. Simpson (Marton) have received notice to report to Trentham to-morrow. Lieutenant Pleasants has just returned to New Zealand from Samoa, where he enlisted by radio, and Lieutenant Haines is an accountant at Wanganui Public Hospital and secretary of the Wanganui Amateur Athletic and Cycling Club. Lieutenant Roydhouse is a Carterton journalist, and Lieutenant Simpson is a farmer. CHAPLAIN TO MAORI BATTALION AUCKLAND, 10th January. A resolution requesting that the Rev. W. N. Panapa, Auckland, should be appointed chaplain to the Maori Battalion for service overseas was adopted unanimously by the Waitangi Celebrations Committee at a recent meeting in Kaikohe. The committee, which represents the four principal tribes of North Auckland, Ngapuhi, Te Rarawa, Te Aupouri, Ngatikahu and Ngatiwhatua, includes members of all denominations. The meeting decided that copies of the resolution be forwarded to the Minister of Defence, Mr Jones, and to the Bishop of Waiapu, the Rt. Rev. G. V. Gerard, as senior chaplain of the New Zealand Military Forces. Mr Panapa, who was ordained in 1921, has been Maori diocesan missioner for the Auckland Anglican Diocese since 1930. He was educated at St. John’s College and is a licentiate in theology. AIR FORCE RECRUITS ENLISTMENT OF GROUND PERSONNEL AUCKLAND, 11th January. “We are more than satisfied with the response and also with the type of men coming forward,” said Mr W. L. Comrie, Wellington, a member of the Royal New Zealand Air Force selection committee, which yesterday completed interviewing men in Auckland for the enlistment of non-flying personnel. The other member of the selection committee is Mr S. R. Cochrane, also of Wellington. The committee has been assisted in its work in Auckland by Mr E. W. A. Drake, of the Hobsonville air base. Mr Comrie said skilled tradesmen were most in demand by the committee. He urged first-class mechanics and coachbuilders not yet interviewed to make application to the Air Department, Wellington.