THE SPECIAL FORCE

Evening Star, Issue 23369, 12 September 1939, Page 12

THE SPECIAL FORCE

NO IMMEDIATE CALL RETURN TO NORMAL WORK [Peb United Press Association.] WELLINGTON, September 11. The medical examination of men offering their services for the special military force, for which recruiting will begin to-morrow, was the subject of a statement by the Minister of Defence (Mr Jones) to-night. If the men who come forward for registration are approved by the recruiting officer they will be sent on to the medical boards for medical examination. After the medical examination the men will be told whether they have been passed as fit, and in every case instructed that they should return to their normal work. . Later they will bo advised by postal notice (a) if they have been accepted for service, (b) the unit to which they are to be posted, and (c) the date and place at which they are to report. At least one week’s notice will be given to each man before being called up. Only men who have. passed their twenty-first birthday and have not passed their thirty-sixth birthday are eligible to enlist in this force. CENSUS RECKONING. The grouping" of ages in the 1936 census returns does not enable an exact number- of single men between the ages of 21 and 35 years to be given. Taking the age groups from 20 to 34, however, it is shown in the Year Book that there were 113.001 males, exclusive of Maoris, within those ages in the Dominion in 1939. The numbers of single men in the various age groups of the 1936 census were as follows; 20 ... 13,228 21-24 47,431 25-29 35,531 30-34 16.791 113,001 Tire total number of Maoris within the age groups concerned at the time of the last census was 18,450, and it might be assumed that half that number, 9,225, were males. The number of single men in that total, however, cannot be stated.