EMPIRE DEFENCE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23143, 15 September 1938, Page 16

EMPIRE DEFENCE

SERVICE. BY YACHTSMEN TRAINING IN AUCKLAND /i; - ~ . 5 CLASSES HELD BY CLUBS I i" The steps which are being taken by C the committee of the Royal Akarana Yacht Club to prepare its members for '&■ any part they may be called upon to take in Imperial defence, are referred ■'} to in the annual report of the club, * to'be presented at the annual meetnext week. It is stated that the Officers of the club are convinced^ that £he defence of New Zealand has never been' on so high a plane, or as efficient as it is to-day, but in view of the , tension in international affairs they have not been prepared to let it rest ; i,at that. .. . i , Dealing with the action already I- taken, the report states that, with the assistance and co-operation of the Navy { League, the club had established a cla.ss of instruction for members, and ; weekly lectures were being given by Captain W. J. Keane and selected in- ' 'st rue tors on navigation and allied subjects, to the standard set for the master's home trade certificate. , In - addition, the club had received from London a series of lectures specially .written iy the leading experts at the Admiralty on other subjects that the potential' Naval Reserve officers require to be conversant with. I "Though the matter has received very (little publicity, the committee is very gratified at the enthusiastic manner, in which the idea of a Yachtsmen's Volunteer Reserve has been received by members," adds the report. "In fact, considerable difficulty has been encountered in reducing the class to the maximum size permitted by the Navy League's chief instructor, For assistance in this direction we tender our thanks to the several sister clubs which have started similar classes and taken 'some of our members into their classes. Our thanks are • also due to the several naval officers who have assisted with valuable advice, and to Mr. C. H. T. Palmer for his efforts in getting the classes of instruction started."