WAR PRIZE MONEY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 27057, 16 April 1949, Page 10

WAR PRIZE MONEY

DISTRIBUTION TO AIR FORCE DIFFICULTY IN DECIDING APPORTIONMENT PA WELLINGTON, Apl. 14. The apportionment of war prize money to the air force was not made individually because of the difficulty of deciding the apportionment, said the Minister of Defence, Mr Jones, to-day. He was asked the reason why prize money was being paid individually to navy personnel who served during the war and to a trust fund for air force personnel. Mr Jones said that because of those difficulties of apportionment in Britain it had been decided to allocate air force prize money to the Air Force Association and to _ the Air Force Welfare Fund. A similar decision had been reached in Australia, said Mr Jones. In New Zealand there were welfare funds for air force personnel but they would not benefit the people who served during the war and who were not now in the air force, for those funds were for serving members. Therefore, it had been thought desirable to have a special trust fund for the general benefit of those who served in the air force during the recent war.

Mr Jones stated that had individual payments been decided on for the air force the number of people involved would have made a long job for a big staff and in some cases individuals would have received only a few shillings. Rather than employ a large staff for some time on the work it had been decided to follow the general procedure of Britain and Australia and provide a trust fund for those who served in the air- force during the war. With the navy with a less involved apportionment and fewer people involved it had not been thought necessary to alter the individual system which had applied to the navy for many years, concluded the Minister.