ROYAL NAVAL RESERVE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20235, 20 April 1929, Page 14

ROYAL NAVAL RESERVE.

THE AUCKLAND DIVISION

PLENTY OF VOLUNTEERS.

OPENING OF TRAINING SHED

Keenness continues to dominate 1 lie work of the Auckland division of (lie Royal Naval Reserve. The companies never fall below stvength, there are numbers of boys ready to volunteer as soon as vacancies occur and the men who have done so well in establishing the movement in Auckland, whence it has spread to the other three main centres in the Do- 1 minion, are eagerly awaiting the completion of the new training shed on the waterfront at Freeman's Bay This will provide the division with greater facilities for carrying on its valuable work.

Construction work on the now shed is expected to be completed in about a fortnight and in three weeks or a month everything should be ready for the official opening. It is proposed to hold this on a Saturday afternoon and to arrange for a full parade of all three companies of the division.

So far this year about 140 boys have carried out a week's training in batches of 20 on the minesweeper Whakakura and the little ship will make two more training trips to tho Hauraki Gulf before she departs for the south. These training trips arc compulsory, but officers are emphatic that all are undertaken in tho volunteer spirit. In fact, the keenness of the boys for their work can at times become almost embarrassing. The strength of the division is limited to 180, exclusive of officers, and only sufficient equipment is provided for 180 trainees. Boys sign on for a term of fivo years but they can be released after three years if their work is satisfactory. Many such boys who have been transferred to the reserve after three years' work have shown' a marked antipathy to leaving the service and still attend drills regularly. Howevor, they have to be listed to the reserve 8s other recruits are always available and equipment is needed for them.

The Royal Naval Reserve training has so captured the imagination of the youth of Auckland —youth which has learned to row a dinghy and sail a light craft from early childhood —that authority is to be sought to enable another full company to be added to the division. Even with room for 60 additional volunteers there would still be boys eager but unable to join the service.