NAVAL RECRUITS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22261, 8 November 1935, Page 12

NAVAL RECRUITS

THE NEW CRUISERS ADDITIONAL PERSONNEL COMMITTEE TO REPORT CHANCES FOR YOUNG MEN [by TELEGRAPH —OWN correspondent] "WELLINGTON. Thursday During the next 18 months the two new 7000-ton cruisers Leander and Achilles for the New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy will have arrived in Dominion waters to take the plac« of the Dunedin and Diomede, and . their advent hns made it necessary to reconsider the question of the recruiting of New Zealanders and to make provision for the future prospects of that personnel in regard to advancement and promotion generally. The ships carry larger crews than the Dunedin and Diomede, and it is stated that the personnel requirements will be about 25 per cent greater. Increased opportunities will therefore be open to young men who wish to follow a naval career. A committee was lately appointed to examine the position and to make recommendations to the Government. Additional Vacancies "The naval plan on which the special committee appointed is working,' stated the Minister of Defence, the Hon. J. G. Cobbe, to-day, "has much to recommend it to New Zealanders keen to enter the naval service. The recommendations of the committee will require to be considered by the Cabinet, and until that stage has been reached I am not able to make any announcement of the particulars of the plan beyond the fact that there will be vacancies for a number of additional men." It is stated that about 50 per cent of the ratings at present borne in the division are New Zealand entries. It is understood to be the Government's wish to draw up a scheme of recruiting which will have the effect in - due course of increasing the number of New Zealand ratings borne to near the 100 per cent mark. The increase will be effected gradually so as not to disturb by violent fluctuations in the numbers recruited the prospects of promotion for new entries. Up to date it has. been the practice to follow very closely the rules obtaining in the Imperial service relating to advancement and promotion. Steady Flow ol Promotion For the future, the rules regarding the actual qualifications to be held by candidates working for promotion will remain the same as in the Imperial Navy, but it is believed the New Zealand authorities will follow their own plans in the administrative sphere. The effect will be that there will be a steady, even flow of promotion. Good opportunities will be available to all ratings at present serving, as well as to those who are to be recruited now and in future. In the division, in Australia, and in the United Kingdom, there is an interchange scheme now in operation, under the new provisions of which a maximum of 90 ratings will be selected to serve in the Imperial Navy for periods of three years. This scheme will give New Zealand ratings an opportunity of seeing other countries. In every case they will be sent to England first, to be drafted to the Mediterranean or Home Fleets. Instruction in England These interchange ratings will be eligible for courses of instruction in the naval schools in England and elsewhere, and they will remain at New Zealand rates of pay. Their prospects of promotion will be exactly the same as though they had been serving in the New Zealand Division. "Though there are many applications from New Zealand boys to join the Navy," Mr. Cobbe said, "reports to me show that the experience of past years has been that it is difficult to obtain suitable candidates in New Zealand in sufficient numbers for the skilled branches, such as engineroom artificers, electrical artificers, ordnance artificers, shipwrights, etc. For the future it is probable that more men can be entered in these branches. It will be necessary to send them for courses of instruction to schools in Australia and, in a limited number of cases, in the United Kingdom." Candidates for Commissions Recent announcements by the Minister pointed to the opportunities which were open to New Zealand ratings to qualify themselves for special selection for promotion to commissioned rank in the Imperial Navy. "It will be realised," said Mr. Cobbe, "that these opportunities can only be taken advantage of by outstanding young men, but it provides an avenue of promotion which should be very valuable. The committee, in its report to the Government, will also consider the question of promotion to warrant rank, and there will bo a number of vacancies for promotion to that rank in .various branches. All these vacancies cannot be filled at once, otherwise there would be a block in promotion. It is probable that they will be made available on a graduated scale designed to provide for filling vacancies gradually during the next 15 or 20 years," A new bookiet, "How to Join the Royal Navy," giving brief details of the requirements for candidates and the prospects of advancement and pay in each of the branches, will bo issued about January next. Parents whoso boys are anxious to join the Navy are recommended to communicate with the Naval Secretary or district regimental officers for copies of this booklet when it is issued.