RECRUITING CAMPAIGN

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20125, 20 December 1939, Page 4

RECRUITING CAMPAIGN

BIG SHORTAGE FEARED CO-OPERATION INVITED GISBORNE QUOTA FILLED Serious shortages of men for service with the Second Echelon of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force are feared in a number of districts throughout New Zealand, and a reusing campaign to stimulate interest in recruiting lor active service abroad is to be launched almost immediately under the auspices of the Government.

Indications have not been wanting that voluntary enrolments are falling short' of expectations in most areas, and Gisborne appears to be one of a handful of centres in which the men required for the Second Echelon quota are now available.

The likelihood that, this district will be called upon to make uo shortages m other areas is not to be dismissed, and if it materialises, history will have repeated itself, for Gisborne and the East Coast supplied a greater proportion of men for service >n the Great War, 25 years ago, than almost any other part of the Dominion. No. 7 Area Contribution From the No. 7 area, of which Gisborne forms a sub-area, it is expected that between 330 and 340 men will be called for the Second Echelon, apart from those already under training for non-commissioned and commissioned rank. This number is slightly lower than that contributed by the No. 7 area for the First Echelon, and if calls are made on the same basis as in October, about (JO men should fill the requirements from the Gisborne subarea.

Some idea of the situation in other areas is given by the announcement made in Wellington that 1000 men are to be recruited there and in the Hutt Valley to make up the Second Echelon quotas, and perhaps to furnish a reserve for the Third Echelon. The raising of these men is to be part of a national campaign, in which the services of the press, the radio, and. the platform are to be invoked; and the co-operation of patriotic councils, the Returned Soldiers’ Association, Red Cross societies, territorials and regimental associations, and other organisations is to be invited.

Recruiting in Main Centres Recruiting depots in conspicuous places in the main centres are to be established, and an additional measure will be the setting-up of travelling recruiting units, consisting of officers entrusted with the enrolment of men, and medical examiners who will carry out examinations immediately upon enrolments. These travelling units will be able to reach groups of men in isolated parts of th'e country, and also individuals who may wish to offer their services but who are not able to spare 'the time to visit recruiting depots. There are many men who, while intending to serve, arc loth to take the first step for the moment, owing to a characteristic reluctance to become involved in exchanges of correspondence. Presented with the opportunity to enrol and to be examined on the spot, they doubtless will seize that opportunity with alacrity. A thorough combing of the Public Works Department’s camps and other places where large numbers of single men, and married men of the acceptable groups, are to be encountered is contemplated.