LIFE IN THE NAVY

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 96, 17 January 1935, Page 8

LIFE IN THE NAVY

New Zealand Division ATTRACTIVE TO YOUTH 500 Achieve Good Record Life in the navy has become attractive to hundreds of New Zealanders. More than half of the 950 ratings in the New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy were born in the Dominion. Their number to-day is just on 500. They have a good record in the files of the Navy Department. Recruiting for the service is not a problem. As an administrative official said to a representative of “The Dominion” yesterday, “it is not necessary to beat the drum or send out a persuasive press-gang for naval recruits. Application for positions in the service is keen, and the supply exceeds the demand. It would require a big expansion of the comparatively small New Zealand naval unit in order to absorb all the eager applicants. Room for expansion? You must go to political administrators for opinions on questions of national defence policy. “No, I would not say that the demand for positions in the navy, has anything to do with any restricted scope for steady employment ashore,” the officer continued. “It is at least certain that, as far as lads are concerned, the economic problem does not influence their desire for enrolment at ajl. There, is no difficulty really in dis-, covering whether or not a youthful applicant merely wants to get a job for twelve years with the prospect of re-employment at the end of the period. Possibly, lack of industrial employment has sent young men into our warships, but their number is negligible. Vacancies do not exceed forty a year, and there is no difficulty in filling them. High Standard. “The excess of supply raises selection to the highest standard as regards character, physique, and alert intelligence. It is neither exaggeration nor a fulsome compliment to young New Zealanders to say that their record in the Navy is exceptionally good. Desertion and serious delinquency are rare, and, in actual numbers over a period of years, compare very favourably indeed with other services. Excellent results in examinations for proficiency in gunnery, seamanship,, and so on, have been achieved, and the latest returns show that New Zealanders topped the lists of passes. Physique, of course, is exactly what it should be, and New Zealand youths are amenable to discipline.” ; . What lias been the past experience in respect of applications for re-appoint-ment in the New Zealand naval division ? “It so happened that last year was really the first test of your question,” was the reply. ‘.‘The New Zealand unit came into being in 1921, and last year was the first time we obtained a fair opportunity of studying the effect of 12 years’ naval service on New Zealanders. The results, of course, were not looked upon as a test of the navy’s popularity. But they were rather better than the general experience of the Royal Navy. Over 50 per cent, of the total New Zealanders whose time had expired, immediately rejoined for a second period. It is not for me to say what thgt signifies, but it certainly does not suggest discontent —or intolerable conditions.” A Career in the Navy. As regards promotion and rne scope for making an appreciable career in the Navy, the New Zealand Division differs from the Australian Navy, wherein Australians may achieve the highest ranks. New Zealanders must join the Royal Navy in the ordinary way if they desire to pace the quarter-deck. If, in tliat way, they become officers and volunteer for service on the New Zealand station, they are given preference in appointment. In the New Zealand unit itself, however, New Zealanders can only re’ach the rank of warrant officer with a pay of 15/- a day, with special allowance to married men. So that the matter of training New Zealanders for the highest-ranks in the New Zealand Navy also is a question of Government policy. The rates of pay for seamen and stokers are 6/4 ami 6/9 a day respectively ; and 8/2 a day for petty officers. ■Training is thorough within the limitations of the unit. The Dominion cannot provide the resources of the Royal Navy in the form of'battleships, submarines, aircraft-carriers and destroyers. And naval manoeuvres are on a modest scale. But the standard of efficiency is pitched high, and New Zealanders have proved equal to attaining it.