AIR FORCE CIVIL RESERVE

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22521, 1 October 1938, Page 16

AIR FORCE CIVIL RESERVE

♦ MANY APPLICATIONS RECEIVED (PRESS ASSOCIATION TELEORAK.) DUNEDIN September 30. A splendid response has been made to the appeal of the Minister for Defence (the Hon. F. Jones) for men to form the Civil Reserve for the Royal New Zealand Air Force. The Minister announced in an interview to-day that nearly 3000 applications have now been received, and it seemed that there would be no difficulty in reaching the initial limit of 5000.

Three . groups were required for the reserve, the Minister said. The first consisted of men with experience in senior executive, administrative, or technical positions, who could in wartime fill vacancies for commissioned officers. The second group consisted of men in technical trades, and clerks and administrative personnel were required for the third group. It was satisfactory to record that all the groups were well represented in the applications, so Jar received, although there was still a need for some names in the group requiring skilled tradesmen. “The only liability on the man who registers,” Mr Jones said, “is that in the event of war he should join the Royal New Zealand Air Force for sex-vice in the Dominion. Although the Civil Reserve forms part of the organisation of the Air Force, it is not intended that in peace its members should be issued with uniforms or receive pay; and any tx-aining they undertake will be purely voluntary, I am extremely gratified at the response already made, and particulax-ly with the high standard of the men who have offered themselves for service in the event of a national emergency.”