NAVAL RESERVES

Evening Star, Issue 23378, 22 September 1939, Page 7

NAVAL RESERVES

PERSONAL SUMMONS IF REQUIRED STATEMENT BY MINISTER [Tee United Press Association.] WELLINGTON, September 21. In order to clarify the position with regard to the requirements of naval officers and men, the Minister of Defence (Hon. F. Jones) issued a statement to-day to the effect that officers and men of the Royal Naval Reserves and the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserves of the Imperial Navy and of the New Zealand Naval Forces, including officers whose names were on the retired list, would be called up as and when required by personal summons Until such a summons was received, the Minister stated, the men should continue in their normal occupations and take no other action, except to report their name and address to the Director of Naval Reserves, Wellington, if this had not already been done.

Concerning retired officers of the Royal Navy, pensioners, and R.F.R. men of the Royal Navy-, the Minister said that these would also be called up if and when required, in a similar manner. •

In due course those not required for the New Zealand Naval Forces would be, placed at the disposal of the ■ British Admiralty, and would be sent to England or elsewhere, as the Admiralty might direct. With regard to ex-Royal Navy ratings who were not pensioners or R.F.R. men, there was at present no service for which such men could be re-entered, Mr Jones said, but the naval authorities wore well aware that there existed in the Dominion a large body of. these trained naval personnel, and they also realised that men were keen to offer their services. Should an opportunity present itself to enter some of these men, an announcement would bo made when the time arose.

The British Admiralty, continued the Minister, had asked for volunteers from among yachtsmen and ex-mercan-tile marine officers for commissions in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve. The Acting Prime Minister (Mr Fraser), Mr Jones said, would refer to this request in a statement to be issued by him later dealing with the whole question of New Zealanders serving with the British Forces. So far as could be seen at present, Mr Jones, added, all naval requirements for the defence of New Zealand could be met from the established naval reserves and perhaps from a few of the ex-naval men resident in the Dominion, and it was not anticipated that there would be any question of recruiting other men for naval war service. The ordinary peace-time recruiting for the naval forces would be continued, and an announcement concerning this would be made from time to time in the usual way. Applications for peace-time recruiting should be made only by men wishing to join the Navy for long service. He concluded that the Navy Department was workin" at very high pressure, and would be grateful if the public would be good enough to refrain from writing to offer their-services.