WOMEN JOIN UP

Dominion, Volume 35, Issue 256, 28 July 1942, Page 4

WOMEN JOIN UP

Recruiting Week Appeal Launched '

Within an hour of (lie launching of recruiting week for women in Wellington yesterday, 50 girls had signed up for service with the home forces in branches cf work where women are urgently needed- Following the opening by Lieuten-ent-General Puttick af; the air-raid shelter, Featherston Street, at 12.30, a steady stream of inquiries was received mainly from young girls, though older women also showed an eager interest. On their way to and from the Post Office, many office girls paused with their bundles of mail and solicited information; typists and shop assistants out for a lunch-hour walk did the same, and still wearing their office smocks, some employees, ot nearby business establishments took time off t opay the shelter a visit. Many of those who inquired stayed to sign up. Two hundred girls in uniform, led by the R.N.Z.A.F. Hand, marched from the railway station to the shelter before the opening. Fifty W.A.A.C.’s took part, wearing for the first time their neat khaki uniforms and smart glengarry caps. Other women members of the armed forces and of the Wellington W.W.S.A. added a further air of smartness to the procession. All were congratulated by Lieutenant-General Puttick on their marching and were obviously admired by their civilian sisters. “After three years of war we of the Allied world find ourselves still confronted by grave dangers,’’ said Lieutenant-Gen-eral Puttick. ‘We have suffered many reverses and enjoyed few successes. It is not a comforting picture, but neither is it a hopeless one by any means. At one time we faced the enemy in circumstances of extreme peril, alone, or practically so. Now we have as an ally a tremendously powerful nation, powerful in numbers, in industrial and financial resources and powerful in stark determination to win, namely, the United States of America. The Mother Country and the British Empire generally are now organized lor war; Russia is patting up a tremendous fight, and other Allies are fighting by our side wherever they can.” Half-measures were dangerous in war. It was a time for an all-out effort and a sustained effort, for an acceptance ot sacrifice of many of the conveniences and niceties which were prized in normal times. What sacrifices could compare with -those which would follow the loss •'£ the war? We must cultivate a cold, deadly determination to do our utmost ‘n every direction, to develop our greatest strength against the enemy.’ he said. Manpower must be applied to essentials rnd essentials only in the matter of winning the war. That, was where women camo in, where they had the opportunity equally with men to make a vital and direct contribution-to the war effort. in industry, in the factories and on the farms, in offices and shops, on trams and Hie railways, in the Navy, Army and Air Force, women could do work which would release men for jobs that only men could do. -Speaking for the Army, he could say that there was an urgent need for every man and- woman it could get. There was much equipment that must he manned permanently, and the plain truth was that there were not enough m Unless women joined the Army in large numbers a good deal of. powerful and efficient equipment would Simply not be manned and the defence of New Zealand' would not ne as efficient as it well C °ln l the absence of Mrs. I’. Fraser, Lieu-tenant-General Puttick was introduced by Mrs. Knox Gilmer.