BALLOT FOR 16,000

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23770, 25 September 1940, Page 11

BALLOT FOR 16,000

DRAWING BEGINS MEN FOR THE TERRITORIALS SERVICE WITHIN NEW ZEALAND [BY TELEGRAPH —PRESS ASSOCIATION] WELLINGTON, Tuesday A commencement was made at nine o'clock this morning with the drawing of 16,000 men from the First Division of the General Reserve, single men from 19 to 45, to supply additional men for territorial service within New Zealand, and on Wednesday of next week the men will receive advice notices and their names will he published in a Gazette. The names are being drawn by officers of the National Service Department, under the supervision of Mr. W. F Stihvell, S.M., but the drawing is arranged in such a way that those actually engaged do not know who has been drawn. One hundred and eighty cards arc drawn at a time, and the first issue took just about 30 minutes from the time the marbles were put in the barrel until notices to the men drawn had been typed. It is anticipated that the full 16,000 names will be drawn in four days, an ambitious undertaking compared with the results obtained when drawing was first resorted to during the last war. Fair System Before the drawing commenced, the Minister of National Service, the Hon. R. Semple, and the Minister of Defence, the Hon. F. Jones, spoke briefly to those engaged in tho work, and congratulated tlieni on tho way in which they had prepared for the ballot. Mr. Semple said he was satisfied that the system of drawing was foolproof and would be scrupulously fair. The ballot was a preliminary one to secure men for the Territorial Forces. There would be other ballots for overseas service. Making Up Deficiencies Mr. Jones said the Defence Department now had to rely on men drawn for service to fill up any deficiencies in the forces, and he hoped the men drawn would accept the position in the very best of spirit. He believed the young men of New Zealand would accept the call to service and play their part along with their mates already in uniform The drawing was commenced with the 2000 men required for the northern military district. The first marblo was drawn bv the Minister of National Service. Colonel Mead, Adjutant-General, was present for a time, and the Director of National Service. Mr. J. S. Hunter, and tho assistant-director, Mr. H. L. Bockctt, took an active part in the drawing.

GIFTS FOR TROOPS WELCOME DISTRIBUTION ENGLAND AND EGYPT An assurance that gift parcels despatched to England for the members of the Second Echelon are being distributed is given in letters which are liow reaching New Zealand. The letters also indicate that the contents of the parcels are being greatly appreciated by t the soldiers. One letter received in Auckland was from a chaplain attached to the 11th New Zealand Forestry Company and was written in England on July 31. He said the comforts sent by the Auckland Provincial Patriotic Council had been received and were in the best possible condition. The writer had been asked by the men of his company to express their thanks for tho gifts and for the good wishes which had accompanied them.

The gifts from New Zealand were most acceptable, said a member of the medical corps attached to the First New Zealand General Hospital in England. He and his messmate received parcels, and the cigarettes were particularly welcome, as the cost _ of cigarettes in their area was fairly heavy. . Advice has also been received or the arrival in Egypt last week of the second consignment of comforts sent from New Zealand for distribution to the men of the First Echelon. The first consignment of gifts was sent forward witn the ships conveying the Second Echelon, but when this force was diverted to England the goods were carried on. A further consignment was sent forward as soon as possible, and it is this lot which has now reached the men.

TERRITORIAL UNITS PROGRESS OF TRAINING Officers and men of the Ist Field Regiment, which is commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel F. C. Soar, E.D., have almost completed tho first month of their intensive home defence training course and will entrain for Rotorua on Monday to go under canvas for the next two months. They will be preceded by an advance party, which will attend to the preparation of the camp. Succeeding them at the Avondale racecourse will bo the Ist Field Company, New Zealand Engineers, which for the past month has been parading daily to the Ellerslie racecourse.