MISSING SERVICEMEN

Chronicle (Levin), 8 March 1946, Page 3

MISSING SERVICEMEN

-Press Association

TEAMS CONTINUE 'SEARCH

By Telegraph-

WniJ-iijIrJijrxUlN, jLViarcn 7. In response to an inquiry concerning searches for nnssing serviee personnei »ne Minister of Defence (Hon. F. ^ones) stated yesterday that Arrny and iiir i orce personnei vvere still engaged in the search for seivicexnen who were ^eported missing. in so far as the Arniy is concerned, the Minister added that a New Zeajand searcher party m Orete, and the New Zealand Graves Registration Unit and the New Zealand Graves Joneentration Unit were all engaged in these duties. Because of the nature of the work undertaken hy these units, 1 1 was diificult to obtain an accurate estimate oi the time for which the New Zealand personnei would be required. At present it was estimated by the general headquarters of the Gentral Mediterranean Porces that the. services of the New Zealand Grave I Registration Unit would be required until the end of April next, the New ! Zealapd Graves Concentration Unit unj til the end of May and the New Zea land personnei in the searcher party were also available until this date. All the New Zealand personnei in these units have volunteered to remain in the Army's employ fof the length of time required. | LANGUAGE QUALIFICATIONS. ■ In the case of the Air Force 11 airmen are engaged in this work. These men are, however, all serving on the Continent and are volunteers for further serviee with the R.A-.F. As language qualification was essential for the search officers in Europe and as there were not sufficlent volunteers in the R.A.F. with this qualification it became necessary for the R.A.F. to offer further serviee to Dominion troops who could speak foreign languages. At present 10 of these men are ln three units covering France, Belgimn, Germany, Holland, Denmark and Norway, and the missing research unit covering the Mediterranean countries. It is expect- | ed that the work in the European I sector will take at least another 12 | months. There are approximately 80,000 ! R.A.F. and Dominion airmen to trace. Mr. Jones added that there are no ; New Zeaianders in the search parties 1 in the Far East. These search parties are fully staffed by R.A.F. personnei. The No. 1 searcher organisation, with its headquarters at Singapore, has 12 searcher teams in operation. These ! teams investigate specific cases and at the same time conduct a general search of the area. Teams Nos. 1 and 2 are operating in Malaya and are expected to complete their work in two or three weeks when they will move to the Netheilands East Indies. The third team has covered Banks Island and is i now workmg in Sumatra. The fourth team is in Saigon • and the fifth in l Borneo. The sixth and the seventh | teams were in Siam, but are now in i Burma. The eighth team is still in Isiam and teams 9 to 12 are waiting to-. move to Tokio, Honk-Kong, the Andamans and the Netherlands East Indies respectively. WORK UMITED. In places such as Indo-China and Java the work of the teams has been limited by local operation, but full information concerning the R.N.Z.A.F. personnei is held by the searcher clearj ing organisation. In addition a searcher 1 organisation has been established by A.C.S.E.A. with two teams in India, , t>ree i.n Burma, tv/o in Malaya, one in : pne in French Indo-China, one in j snmatrk, onG in •f'ava- Each team | consists of an ofiicer and two othcr ranks. Full i'nfcrmation on R.N.Z.A.F. ! and New Zealand personnei serving in ihe R.A.F. has been supplied to ; A.C.S.E.A. These teams have not yet | begun their work, but they will start ! very shortly. The Minister continued that, in so far as New Zealand personnei are concerni ed. it is not considered likely that any j tuither serviee personnei will be recovjered alive from either the European I theatre of war or the Far East, and in ' th.A Far East it is doubtful whether ! additi onal infonnation will be obtained j which would coufirm the deaths oi those [repc-ited nnssing. | In Europe, however, it has been i found that the Gennans did their best to complicate matters by issuing wrong | information regarding burial places and Jother details. This in the main is the reason for the many delays at present, but it is hoped that correct infonnation will he finally revealed.