AIR FORCE
PRELIMINARY TRAINING NEW ZEALAND EARLY IN FIELD. SCHEME GIVING EXCELLENT RESULTS. ’ ’By Telegraph—Press Association.) WELLINGTON. This Day. The Prime Minister 'Mr Fraser l j made reference today to the recent I announcement of the establishment in J Britain of a now scheme of Air Force | preliminary training. This is 10 en- ; able boys to qualify for entry to the R.A.F. or the Fleet Air Arm. whether lor not their educational standard is • originally equal to the educational ; standard required for the Air Force. ■ The announcement from London ■ stated that these boys would receive i preliminary training in their spare i time, either in school or in local ’ units, and that special coaching would jbe given in such subjects as mathej mattes and mechanics in order that ■! they might be brought up to the ! necessary standard. Mr Fraser slated that almost since • the war began. New Zealand had re- ; cognised the necessity for some form j of preliminary Air Force training in 1 order that an equal opportunity might ibe given to all. Actually. New Zea- ' land commenced preliminary Air Force i training in 1939. as soon as it became j obvious that the pre-war scheme of j selection did not meet war conditions. ; and that we were missing hundreds of ; the very best men because they did ! not have the necessary educational • qualifications. The decision was made ■ io select a man irrespective of his edu- . cational qualifications and to bring ! him up to the necessary standard bei fore he went on to the ground train--1 ing school at Levin. I PRACTICAL SYLLABUS. I In October. 1939. the Director of ■ Educational Services to the Royal New ; Zealand Air Force prepared a practical I syllabus capable of bringing our men i up to the necessary Air Force standard in a minimum time. This practical ] syllabus included mathematics and I elementary science. A book, ns a I correspondence course for men in country districts and for those who are i unable to attend the usual classes, was j also prepared. The first draft of the l book was commenced shortly after the outbreak of war and it was finished •early in 1940 and had been the text ; book for our Air Force preliminary 1 classes, as well as for Air Force cor- ! respondence courses, since January. • 1940. This book had since been re- , vised and reprinted by the thousand. Our New Zealand scheme and this . text book, said the Premier, were en- { abling New Zealand to send into the ground training school at Levin a constant stream of men with the necessary basic knowledge to enable them to i commence training for the air crows j of the Empire and would enable New i Zealand to do this as long the war lasted. AN EXAMPLE FOLLOWED. ■ It was not long. Mr. Fraser continu- : cd. before other parts of the Empire began to realise the advantages of this i system. Our scheme and our text book .were forwarded to .Australia in May. 1940. anti made possible the rapid in-] I traduction of a similar scheme in Aus-! ! iraliq. 'l’he book was reprinted in Aus-' trti'ia and enabled Australians to com-i mence preliminary educational train-i ing for air crews about June. In July i la-t complete details of our prelimin-• ary educational training scheme wore' forwarded by the Director of Educa-i tionai .Services to the Air members fori training and to the Director of Educa-i tionai Services of the Royal Air Fmc<and advice had been received that these papers w.-re being carefully slud-i ied. It was quite possible that the de-1 tails of ’he New Zealand scheme had, proved helpful to the authorities at Home, as the advantages of giving u> ! the youth the nation equal upper-■ Unities to attain the necessary eduea-! tionai qualifications had been widely i recognised and appreciated. CLOSE CO-OPERATION Mr. Fraser added that everything! possible was being done in New Zea- I land, before men entered the training! schools, to prepare them for the work; which they had to do. By close coperation between the educational services of the R N Z.A.F.. the Post and Telegraph Department and the National Bt■oadcasting Service, it had been-; possible to arrange for complete cour-1 -vs | -f instruction in Morse signalling: for all members ■>! ;ur crews prior to their entry into the ground training l i-chool Igsi'ge numbers of men were being in s.i iicteii in Mois e signalling m ; eki. 'i - . and those who could not attend‘ classes were being given similar in-, ■‘.ruction over the air. As far as he! was aware, this form <>f preliminary; nstruct • n being given nowhere else m the wcikl, but he was satisfied: fr- o’, '.’ii- result.- submitted to him. that could be copied witli advantage by! ..’.her part' ( >f the Empire. 1 h»* ; LniitGtry ethicalu.nzvl ‘niinu!/, i ; ■ 'A.'!, !-M!; U t.-lrUC* ?< Hi i*x Mu'e-f’; - H,’LtH :■;t.-f lhe : .-. r v. hA'h the rc. -uic* . of New • "/( ve heme tuT.anr'rd fc«r ’.h<J //ar < ,r -c '. Mr l , ’L3st/r renchtdeh.
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Wairarapa Times-Age, 14 January 1941, Page 6
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834AIR FORCE Wairarapa Times-Age, 14 January 1941, Page 6
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