CALL ANSWERED

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 1, Issue 61, 13 September 1939, Page 5

CALL ANSWERED

WHAKATANE jtfEN ENLIST RESPONSE IS IS&CELLMT 3 *" 1 . Without my .flamboyant blare of trumpets or loud demonstrations the youth of this portion of the Bay of Plenty is responding magnificently io the call for servicc in the fighting force, recruiting for which opened yesterday morning. Many left for Rotorua yesterday morning, an;l many more men obtained their enlistment forms from the Whakatane Post O'lFice. At nine o'clock every section ol the writing desk was occupied by a man filling in his form, and during the morning 50 were distributed, the supplies eventually running out in the afternoon, so that in a f°w hours Whakatane filled the quota the authorities apparently allotted to it. The action of the young men is a splendid answer to those who in the last few months have claimed that this generation is unwilling to shoulder its responsibilities. A peculiarity is that there is little frothy enthusiasm or exuberance, but that the volunteers all seem in a businesslike and sober frame of mind, which is probably a good thing m itself. Nothing can be learned of the purpose or destination of the forcc which is now being uiised. Military men in Whakatane think that there i.; no doubt that many more men, will respond than will be enlisted in this first unit, and that it will be a case of many are called but few are chosen.