900 MORE MEN

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23602, 11 March 1940, Page 6

900 MORE MEN

RECRUITING NEEDS 1. DISTRICT QUOTA RAISED MOKE REINFORCEMENTS About 900 more men -were needed on Saturday to supply the northern military district's quota for the third echelon of the Expeditionary Force. Some reduction in the deficiency will probably be' disclosed to-day, when the weekly returns from the Auckland, Paeroa, Wbangarei and Hamilton areas are received, but the effect will not be such as to reduce the necessity for a steady recruiting rate in the next. few %veeks. Several causes have operated to account for the deficiency. One is that General Headquarters in Wellington has raised the northern district's quota, thus making it necessary for all tho four areas to find more men for the echelon than they originally expected. Third Echelon Requirements As a result, it now appears that Auckland and the three other areas will have to supply more men for this echelon than for either of the preceding two. As announced by the Government, the district's quota for the first echelon was about 2200, while for the second echelon it was reduced by several hundred. For the third echelon the district will have to find about 2800. An expansion of the second echelon has also been partly responsible f.tr the 000 deficiency. For instance, a call was I made for a district quota to the Ist General Hospital, added after mobilisation of the main body of the echelon. This call and others naturally absorbed some of the men at first available for third echelon mobilisation. Another Contributing Cause Another cause which has operated to create the present deficiency is the wastage which has occurred in the ranks of the second echelon. Recent X-ray examinations for tuberculosis caused the discharge of a number of men, while others have been lost to the echelon for several reasons. All these losses have caused a further drain on the third echelon nucleus. Now the demand for an increased quota from the district may be accounted for by a decision to send additional reinforcements and other units. Among these is a 2nd General Hospital.