NEW ZEALAND AVIATORS.

Taranaki Daily News, 7 June 1919, Page 9

NEW ZEALAND AVIATORS.

IEFT TO SHIEE PCJR THEMSEL\SE& Coniplaint has been made Iftal New Zealand members of the Royal Air Force have been discharged in London since the signing of the armistice and left to make their own arrangements for returning to New Zealand. In some cases these men have been without means', and they have had to make appeals to relatives and friends to assist them. Parents in New Zealand have protested against being required, to pay for the repatriation of their boys. The difficulty'arises.' from the fact that the flying candidates who went from New Zealand did not go as members of the New Zealand forces at all. They received their preliminary training at the New Zealand flying schools, which are not Government institutions, and then they were shipped to England at the expense of the Imperial Government, j The New Zealand military authorities were s.imply agents in (his matter, and | the cadets passed entirely under the control of the Air Ministry as soon aa they reached the United kingdom. They j received: pXy and allowances at (the j Imperial rates. The New Zealand Government took an increased interett in the aviivtion cadets in the later stages of the war, owing to the necessity for seeing that men liable for military service under the Military Service Act did. not make improper use of the channel provided by the air service. The men were attested as members.' of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, and were then given indefinite leave without pay, on condition that they entered either an aviation school or a military training camp within, three months. Later they were attested "as members of the Imperial Forceß after their arrival in the United Kingdom. The system worked well enough during the war, but the needs of the airmen from oversea seem to have been overlooked by the Air Ministry when demobilisation orders were being issued. The men were demobilised in London in some eases, and left ■ entirely on their own resources. The trouble did not end there, for in several instances that had come under notice the men were unable to Collect arrears of pay in London before leaving for New Zealand, and were told, according to their own statements, that they would receive the money in this country. But when they arrived here nobody in authority knew anything about them. There is reason to believe that eventually the airmen will be able to recover out of pocket expenditure that should have been paid from public funds. Strong representations have been made on their behalf. But in the meantime the men have been exposed to hardship. The popnlar Impression that the air cadets were all young men possessed of means was by no means justified by the facts. Some of the cadets had their training expenses paid by fritnds or patriotic citizens. One farmer in Auckland paid for the training of six vadcts and then gave each a small sum or money against initial expenses. Other cadets* paid the school fees Mjth their own small saviiwrs and were dependent nu their pay when they reached- the United Kingdom.