TO ASSIST RECRUITING

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 2, Issue 108, 10 January 1940, Page 4

TO ASSIST RECRUITING

Whakatane's fine response to the call for fighting moil has few to equal it from a comparative point of view- The record is one of which the town may well be proud, and as the appeal for more and still more recruits goes abroad, there is reason to expect that the community will have even greater cause for gratification. The difficulty some of the local volunteers complain of, however, is the trouble in making contact with the local recruiting authority. It has been suggested that the campaign might be stimulated by the appointment of a permanent military headquarters here. The nearest depot at the present time is Rotorua (53 miles away), but most of the recruits have made contact through Tauranga (60 miles north). In either instance it is necessary to take a full day off to report for examination, and there have been instances of men from this town travelling to Tauranga and then through bad arranging or by oversight having to return home without even the satisfaction of being attested or examined. The whole trip has been made for nothing. It is to prevent this sort of thing from occurring again that we throw out the above suggestion.