H—lla

SECTION lI.—VOLUNTEERING AND BALLOTING (i) Volunteering 66. For some months after the outbreak of war in September, 1939, recruitment for all branches of the Armed Forces was conducted on a voluntary basis. So far as the Navy was concerned, voluntary enlistment remained throughout the war, as was the ■case also with the Fleet Air Arm and all flying personnel for the Air Force. Volunteers for these types of service were excluded from the ballot register after being attested for service. Recruitment amongst the Maori people for all branches of the Armed Forces also remained on a voluntary basis throughout. 67. After balloting was introduced, married men with more than three children •continued for a time to be accepted as volunteers for Territorial service only. In all, some 57,000 men volunteered for service with the Army. 68. All women serving with the Armed Forces were volunteers. (ii) Balloting 69. The powers necessary to impose conscription were taken under the National Service Emergency Regulations, gazetted on the 18th June, 1940, when it had become <clear that the war would be a long one, requiring a heavy and prolonged draw-off of men for military service and necessitating planned adjustments between military and industrial needs. 70. Selection for service was decided by lot, single men being balloted first. The first ballot, calling up 16,000 men for Territorial service, was gazetted on 2nd October, 1940. It was followed in quick succession by two further ballots —one for Territorial service in November (34,000 men), and one for overseas service in December (14,000 men). Mobilization proceeded at the rate of about one ballot a month, until by December, 1941, a little over a year after balloting had commenced, all single men aged twenty-one to forty had been called up for overseas service. During the same period .all single men aged eighteen to forty-five inclusive (not already called for overseas .service) had been called up for Territorial service (a proportion of these being subsequently -called for overseas service). 71. Married men were then called up in a series of ballots until the calling-up of the eligible population for military service was completed by the end of 1942, when all men —both single and married—from the ages of eighteen to forty-five inclusive had been called up. The total number of individual men affected was 283,059. There remained only a small accretion of men entering eligible classes from various sources, .and the regular inflow of young men attaining the age of eighteen years at the rate of rather more than 1,000 a month. These accretions resulted in five more ballots affecting 29,202 men. The only ballot in 1945 was gazetted on the 23rd May, and affected 5,909 men. Tables 1 and 2 of the Appendix give analyses of ballots up to 31st March, 1946. (iii) J Force, Interim Air Force, and Army 72. At the end of January, 1946, it was announced that the British Commonwealth Occupation Force of Japan would include a New Zealand Brigade of about 4,000 men and an R.N.Z.A.F. Fighter Squadron of 240 men. The land Force consisted of single men from the last three reinforcements to leave New Zealand for the Middle East, together with key personnel from earlier drafts. The advance party landed in Japan in March, 1946. 73. It was decided early in 1946 that the personnel of this Force should serve in Japan for a limited period of six months only, and that they would be gradually replaced by a volunteer Force to be raised in New Zealand, known as J Force. Some 4,500 volunteers required to be raised in New Zealand for this purpose, and sufficient of them required to be in camp by the first week in March, 1946, to enable the despatch of the

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