APPEALS FOR GIRLS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 5, Issue 3, 11 September 1942, Page 3

APPEALS FOR GIRLS

CASES HEARD IN PAEROA NEEDED FOR THE ARMY The first, appeals hoard in the No. 2 Army Area for girls called for service in the Armed Forces were heard in Pacroa on Monday morning before the Paeroa Armed Forces Appeal Board when the Post and Telegraph Department, To Aroha, and the Bank of Australasia, Pae-

roa, appealed against Miss O. C. Walsh, of To Aroha and Miss Rae Maurine Tliomas, of Pacroa being called as signallers. Both girls had volunteered for service and the appeal was entered by the employers. A letter from an inspector of the Bank of Australasia explained that Miss , Thomas had joined the bank stall' in Pacroa in February last to release a male member for service. To>-day it -would be practically impossible to replace Miss Thomas with either a man or a girl. Mr E. W. Chislio'lm, manager of the bank in Pacroa, appeared in support of the appeal, emphasising the difficulty of securing stall" to replace Miss Thomas, who, he said, had proved very satisfactory, and

quick to learn. He stated that he had had no official advice that Miss Thomas would be called for the Army. Miss Thomas, when questioned, stated that her duties consisted of exchanges, posting and attending to the mail. Apart from herself, there were only the manager and the teller on the Staff of the bank. She had found the Avork easy to learn. Siie had not had previous business experience. When she first came to live at Paeroa some 18 months ago she had joined the signalling section of the W.W.S.A. Lieutenant Cave, in opposing the appeal,, stated that the Army Avas very short of signallers , at present and Avas in urgent need of them. It was proposed to fill up the rarjlcs from the W.W.S.A. At present, he explained, girls with no experience avctc of no use as recruits were urgently needed for the present, and untrained girls would require from three to four months' training before they would lie of much use. Miss Thomas, he added, Avas the toj) signaller in the Paeroa W.W.S.A and Avith three Aveeks' intensive training could be trained to handle the job they had in view for her. The appeal Avas dismissed, Miss Thomas not to be called before.October 11, Mr R. Mace, postmaster of Pacroa, appeared on behalf of the chief postmaster, Thames, in support of the appeal for the Post and Telegraph Department. The chief postmaster, Thames, in a letter, stated that Miss Walsh was employed by the Te Aroha Post Office as a telephone exchange operator, being a fu!l.y trained officer. She had been

engaged in 1940 to release a male member of the staff for the Army. Recently the Te Aroha Pos) Office had required a further girl and had been unable to find one -locally.. In the end it had been-necessary to transfer a girl from the Bay cf Plenty. ' Mr Mace pointed out that the Post and Telegraph Department had recently been declared an essential industry. The Te Aroha Post Office formerly had six male operators in the exchange and now only one man ■was left and he was on permanent night duty. Lieutenant Cave said that although a number of the permanent exchange operators had volunteered for service he had not called them,, appreciating the problems of the Post and Telegraph Department. .Miss "W'l'sh was only a temporary employee. The secretary. Mr Riplc\\ pointed out that Miss Walsh was very keen to join the Army, having volunteered for serviceLieutenant Cave stated that Miss Walsh had her belongings packed

and on tin.- To Aroha station, hoping to enter the Army that day if released. Mr Edwards explained that the Appeal Board together with other boards had urged that male labour be replaced with female labour and in these cases these instructions had been carried out. This point would have to be taken into consideration in the board's decision. When questioned on the wages the girls were getting, Lieutenant Cave explained that their Army pay would be less than they were "receiving at present. The appeal was dismissed. MissWalsh not to be called bef \ re September 7.