WOMEN FOR THE SERVICES

Evening Star, Issue 24282, 25 August 1942, Page 6

WOMEN FOR THE SERVICES

RECRUITMENT PRINCIPLES (P.A.) WELLINGTON. Aug. 24. Commenting on a suggestion that each service should conduct its own recruiting campaign lor women, the Minister of National Service (Mr Braadfoot) said to-day that the main objection to such a course lay chiefly in the fact that the employment of women in the armed forces was not merely an individual problem of the respective services, but one of national concern, and from the Government's point of view it must be considered on that basis.

If women were required for the armed forces, the Minister added, it was the Government’s duty to see they were obtained according to the_ requirements of the respective services. To have three bodies recruiting independently and competing for the services of the same persons was undesirable in any circumstances, particularly when the relative numerical requirements of the services varied to a marked degree. Mr Broadtoot proceeded to outline the functions of the Women’s War Service Auxiliary, which, he said, acted as a preliminary clearing house for all applications. “ Profiting from the experience gained during the voluntary enlistment of men,” the Minister continued, “ the Government has sought to ensure that women recruits are utilised on a sound economic basis, that they will be withdrawn from industry only to the extent of the requirements of the services, and that they will be employed on duties suitable to their training, skill, and qualifications.” The responsibility of the Women's Armed Forces Personnel Board, which consisted of a representative of each of the throe services and .of the Women’s War Service Auxiliary, was to ensure that while individual preference would be given consideration the allocation of personnel between the three services would be in accordance with requirements. Referring to the enlistment condition that women must be prepared to serve for the duration and 12 months thereafter unless discharged, the Minister said that if a woman enlisted and her domestic circumstances or arrangements changed in a manner which would justify her discharge, _ the services would favourably consider the granting of her release. This would apply particularly to the wives ot soldiers who were serving overseas. If their husbands returned from overseas no difficulty would he placed in the way of those women in obtaining discharges. So far as the question of serving in any part of New Zealand was concerned. the Minister concluded, it was the policy of the three services, if it could possibly be arranged, to post women to duties as near as possible to their places of residence. This did not imply that a woman might Jive at home, but if she were not living at home she would normally be boused in barracks or some other suitable accommodation provided by the respective services