ARMED FORCES

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 77, 15 October 1942, Page 3

ARMED FORCES

! APPEALS AGAINST SERVICE I FURTHER CASES HEARD IN NELSON I Further appeals were heard by the I Armed Forces Appeal Board yesterday afternoon. The members of the Board , I are Messrs G. L. Page (chairman). J. • ! Dicker and L. Ward: and T. Dobson, .j secretary. The following cases were > I dealt with: 1 Lime and Marble Ltd. applied for the i j release from camp of Kenneth Kerr.- ! Il was stated to have been declared an '! essential industry. Three shifts a day j had been worked but these had been re 1 | duced to two and production was be- , low requirements. This man was needed • for a tale grinding machine, and this . | tale could be used for a number of > The Board agreed to grant a sine die | adjournment to bo reviewed at the end ■ of March. ! The Director of National Service ap pealed for Russell James Dron on the ground's of public interest. Mr J. H. • Ralfe represented reservist’s father, Mr j J. W. Dron. Mr Dron was stated to have a farm of 99 acres, with 15 cows, G acres of peas. 10 acres of wheat. 7 acres of bar i ley. 12 acres of oats. 2A acres of potatoes. and 1 acre of tomatoes. His son I | did all the ploughing and he employed J no other labour. The son’s assistance was necessary if the farm was to be ! kept in production. Reservist, also did a ! considerable amount of work for neigh- '. j hours. j The chairman commented that this reservist was a single man, grade I. the sort of man the Army urgently . needed. Only under exceptional circumstances could such a man be re- • leased. I The appeal was dismissed, subject to . reservist not being called up before 15th November. A farm assistant at the Tobacco Research Station, Umukuri. Douglas McLean. was appealed for by the Director of National Service. It was stated that the area covered 17 acres, all of which was devoted to experimental work. There were two permanent men under Mr R. Thompson. McLean was a thoroughly experienced man. whom it would be extremely difficult to replace. Deferment for six months was asked for. j Sir Theodore Rigg, as chairman of i the Tobacco Research Committee, said i fie fiad been asked to support the api peal. Mr R. Thompson saicl that the station was producing tobacco seed. Last season half New Zealand's requirements of seed had been supplied, and next season they aimed to supply the whole of the requirements. McLean was needed for more than six months, lie added. A sine die adjournment was agreed to. An appeal tin the grounds of undue hardship against overseas service was made by J. Allan for James Herbert Allan, reservist himself supporting the appeal. Reservist said that his father needed his help on the 12-acre orchard, having no other assistance except that of the mother. The case was adjourned till 15th January. A similar appeal was lodged by C. Higgs for his son. Gordon Robert Higgs. Appellant said he and two sons were running two orchards totalling 25 acres. He had no objection to his son going after the fruit season, which should last till the second week in May. He expected a big crop this season, between 13.000 and 14.000 cases. The appeal was dismissed subject to reservist not being called up before 15th April. Appealing for Leonard Howard Lines, Francis H. J. Lines (Mr C. R. Fell), farmer, -aid that he had a farm of 850 acres at Sherry River, running 54 cows and 50-60 head of run cattle, 600 sheep and four breeding sows. He grew 4£ acres of raspberries, producing seven tons last season and there should be

more this season. Except for raspberry picking he had no outside labour. A sine die adjournment was agreed to subject to reservist going into camp in May. June and July. Mrs C. A. Biggs, of Tadmor. re presented by Mr Fell, appealed for Owen Douglas Griffith, a son. without whom she said she could not carry on her hop and raspberry gai ’ s. Her husband worked a farm at the Dart where he ran sheep. Her son was in the Home Guard. The Board agreed to adjourn the a j-peal sine die. A storekeeper. Richard William Hartley (Mr Ralfe) lodged an appeal on the grounds of undue hardship and public interest. He told the Board that he owned stores at Upper Moutere and Mapua. One of his male assistants had just been called up and could not be replaced. Appellant, a married man with four children, faced the prospect of having to close down and lose a lot of money. A sine die adjournment was agreed to. subject to Home Guard service. A farm manager. Norman Victor Fuller, was appealed for by the Institute de Notre Dames des Missions Trust Board (Mr Ralfe). Reservist was stated to be manager of a farm of 168 acres in Brook street which provided milk, i meat, poultry and eggs for the use of the institute which conducted an orphanage, convent and secondary college. At the present time there were approximately 80 orphans at the orphanage. 24 Sisters and some 14 or 15 boarders at the secondary college. Fuller was fully occupied in the conduct of the farm. Lie did all the milking, killed all nival required and delivered it to the convent each day. There was also a property at Wakapuaka, a certain area of which was farmed under Fuller’s supervision. The case was adjourned sine die. conditional on reservist joining the Home Guard. An appeal for Henry Burrow Nimrno was lodged for the estate of R. McArtney, plumbers. Mr W. Lock appeared for the firm. There was no chance of getting another man, said Mr Lock, as a number of men had been taken to the Wairarapa to repair earthquake damThe appeal was adjourned for three months. There was an appeal by the Nelson Fruitgrowing Development Company for Francis George Foster. Mr C. Milner represented the company. It was stated

that Foster’s services were essential to the orchard, of which there was 130 acres bearing. The orchard supplied fruit for Kirkpatrick's factory, lie was an expert fruitgrower, trained in Australia, and the orchard could not be managed without his direction. The orchard produced 25,000 benzine cases of peaches a year. There were only five regular men at present. As well as peaches the orchard produced pears, quinces and melons. The appeal was 4|liourned sine die, reservist to join the Home Guard. S. Kirkpatrick and Company appealed for John Walter, apprentice engineer, who opposed the appeal. Mr Milner said he had no idea the reservist opposed the appeal and lie was . willing to drop it. To Mr Dobson Mr Milner said that | reservist would be very useful in lielp- | ing the company to fulfill Government j contracts. lie was 10 years of age. I Reservist said he would like to go ! into camp during the winter. | The case was adjourned sine die. j Kirkpatrick's also appealed for John ■ William James, factory hand, and John | William Sutton, packer. Both cases were adjourned sine die. conditional on Home Guard service. A clerk. Donald A. Everett, was also appealed for by Kirkpatrick's till some one could be trained to take his place. The appeal was dismissed subject to reservist not being called up before 31st April. The release of P. R. Pike from camp for the canning season was also sought Kirkpatrick’s and opposed by the Army. The appeal was dismissed. The Director of National Service appealed for Alistair Fitzroy McLean, assistant medical officer at the Mental Hospital. Dr. J. U. Williams said that it would be impossible to manage without the reservist. The case was adjourned sme die. The Director of National Service also appealed for Thomas Clifton McDonald, a senior clerk at the Mental Hospital. The appeal was dismissed. A clerk in the P.W.D.. Thomas Joseph Donovan, was appealed for by the Director- of National Service. He was stated to be engaged on defence contracts. and was needed for another three months. The appeal was dismissed subject to reservist not being called up before 31st December. The Public Works Department appealed for Owen Joseph Pahl, blacksmith at the Cobb river works, and the appeal was adjourned sine die. An appeal by the Public Works Department for Oswald Rowling was dismissed subject to his not being called up before Ist November. The Director of National Service appealed for Eric Bruce Mackenzie, electrical engineer in the Public Works Department, who was stated to be absolutely indispensable, and was in charge of the Cobb hydro-electric scheme. The appeal was adjourned sine die. Steve Hart appealed on the grounds of public interest. Reservist said he had a farm and had also been engaged by the Public Works Department. He did contracting work. The appeal was allowed. An appeal by Hart for Archibald Roy Simpson was dismissed.