OUR AIR FORCE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 30 July 1941, Page 5

OUR AIR FORCE

GREAT EXPANSION

AND SPLENDID RECORD OF SERVICE.

DEFENCE MINISTER GIVES FACTS

(By Telegraph.—Press Association.) WELLINGTON, This Day.

Staling, in the House of Representatives last evening, that Ihe Royal New Zealand Air Force was now a. “force” in every sense of the word, lite Minister of Defence (31 r dunes) added that when the war broke out ihe Air Force was already in the throes of expansion and development, and Ihe changeover to a. war .footing merely .involved a tremendous speeding up of all. peace time plans.

Since the outbreak of war applications for enlistment in the R.N.Z.A.F. had totalled more than 30,000, the Minister said, and the total personnel engaged in the Air Force in the Dominion was now well over 11 times greater than it was at the beginning of the conflict. The effort had not been solely directed to supplying personnel for Canada, the Air Force in Britain and local requirements, and they had been able to meet requests for the maintenance of a unit at one of the Pacific islands.

New Zealand had been the first Empire country to establish a preentry educational scheme to fit civilians to become members of the flying personnel of the R.N.Z.A.F., and it had now been adopted in other Empire countries, based largely on the experience gained in New Zealand. It had saved thousands of pounds in the training of men.

Referring to the accident rate among the training personnel, the Minister saicl that a study of the data showed that very few accidents had been due to mechanical trouble. Many of them had been due to errors of judgment, negligence and low flying. Low flying was distinctly contrary to instructions and it had been necessary to adopt strict disciplinary action where flagrant breaches had been proved. A large proportion of the accidents had taken place in the winter months, when flying conditions were not of the best. A survey of the position, however, showed that the accident rate in New Zealand compared more than favourably with that in other countries, and he was satisfied that every possible precaution was being taken to reduce the rate still further. “I can assure the House, Mr Jones said “that no stone has been left unturned to render New Zealand immune from an invasion. The Air Training Scheme alone ensures that there will always be a large number of framed personnel available in the Dominion for operational purposes in an emergency?* The Minister, paying a tribute to the success of the airmen overseas said that to date more than 100 awards and honours had been won by New Zealanders Thev included one D.S.U., three George"' Medals, three O_F.C's. with bar 77 D.F.C’s, nine D.F.M s, and 11 Air Force Crosses.