VETERANS IN CAMP

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIII, Issue 169, 20 July 1942, Page 2

VETERANS IN CAMP

I read with interest, and entire agreement, J.M.'s letter under the heading '"Men for the Army.'' Probably 110 correspondent has' given a truer or clearer picture of the position that exists in the New Zealand forces to-day. That the position is unfair those_ men who served in the Ist N.Z.E.F. is obvious, and today we have the spectacle of men of from 40 to 46 years of asze who served during the 1914-1S campaign and are now attempting to train alongside youths of from IS to 20 years. Many of these men in civil life were engaged in what have been gazetted "essential services," and appeals for their release from service have been in vain, yet hundreds of young, single, fit men are being retained in these essential services and industries while the veterans remain camps, sometimes under deplorable living conditions. It is a curious thing that the R.S.A. has not moved ill this matter, for surely the time has arrived when a complete survey of the manpower position df the country should be made ar.d due consideration given to these men who "did their bit" 24 years aeo. E.S.