TERRITORIAL FORCE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 10 December 1938, Page 5

TERRITORIAL FORCE

TRAINEES RECEIVE TWELVE SHILLINGS A DAV

ATTRACTIONS OF SERVICE INCREASE IN RECRUITING. No true volunteer joins the Territorials because of the money he will get out of it, but on the other hand no man who sacrifices his time and leisure in undertaking this vital public duty should be out of pocket in doing so. Twelve shillings a day for annual camp and for courses of instruction, that is the present remuneration handed out to the New Zealand trooper, gunner, private or whatever other name the bulk of the rank and file mayhave.

Actually it is made up of 7s pay and 5s camp allowance paid- not only for the six days’ annual camp, which is the climax of the training year and looked forward to with keenness and enthusiasm by every member of every unit, but also for the six-day courses of instruction held throughout the year at the Army and District Schools. That is not the full story, although it makes our volunteers the highest paid in the world. Over and above the pay for six days’ training, under the new regulations they also receive pay for the days spent in travelling to and from the annual camp or course, of instruction. In fact the financial conditions of service in the Territorial Force today leave nothing to be desired. Even the cost of fares to and from all parades, over a reasonable walking distance, are refunded. This has removed one minor grievance which has rankled with the volunteers and undoubtedly retarded recruiting for a long time. ’ The detailed rates of pay today in the Territorial Force are as follow:— Private 7s, corporal 7s 6d, sergeant Bs, sergeant-major and staff-sergeant 8s 6d, lieutenant and second-lieutenant Ils, captain 13s, major 15s, lieutenantcolonel 18s, colonel £1 4s. This represents an increase of 3s a day all round above the 1911 scale. Add to this the 5s camp allowance and the fact that rations and quarters are provided free, which probably represents on the average, another 3s 6d per day. The total remuneration received by the volunteer private is, therefore, in the vicinity of 15s 6d, comparing very favourably with civilian rates of pay.

During the last six months approximately 4,000 Territorial Offcers, N.C.O.’s and men have attended one of the many courses of instruction held at the Army and District schools, and have, therefore, appreciated to the full what the above increases mean.

About this time of the year out-of-camp pay for half the training year is distributed, so that most serving Territorials know what benefits they will receive under the new conditions. As a result the wastage has been reduced, more men are carrying out their full training and, therefore, the efficiency of the Force is improving a great deal. The increase in recruiting is, it is hoped, not due to the increased remuneration; the Territorial Force does not want the type of man who is attracted by higher pay only, it is the sense,of duty which is most valuable. Most units are now preparing for the climax of the year’s work in the annual camp, which generally speaking, is held in February, or March, according to locality. Attendance depends primarily on the employers, and everything points to excellent co-operation on their part this year. It is remarkable how many of them allow their staffs leave on full pay to attend annual camp, but there are haturally many firms who cannot afford to do this. One very beneficial effect of the new rates of pay will be the fact that the difference between the military rate of 12s, with free “board and lodgings” and the remuneration received by the volunteer for his normal civilian occupation will not be very much with a result that many employers will be prepared to bridge this gap and pay the difference. In the case of Civil Servants, every Government Department has received very clear instructions that members of their staffs are to be released for annual camps on full departmental pay or on military pay, which ever is the higher. With the present rates many of the junior Public Servants will find it preferable to take either annual leave or leave without pay and go to camp on their military pay which will very often be higher than what they are receiving departmentally.