SOLDIERS’ APPEALS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 2 September 1942, Page 4

SOLDIERS’ APPEALS

AGAINST OVERSEAS SERVICE SITTING OF ARMED FORCES BOARD. DISMISSALS & ADJUSTMENTS.

A further batch of appeals by soldiers against service overseas was dealt with yesterday afternoon by the No. 2 Armed Forces Appeal Board. Those present were Messrs H. B. Lusk (chairman), F. R. Field, and W. H. Barry, members of the board, the sccretaiy, Mr J. C. Corbishley, and the Crown representative, Mr J. S. Wauchop. Malcolm Graham, bank clerk, appealed on the grounds of undue hardship and public interest. In his statement, appellant said that one of two brothers had been killed in an aircraft accident and the other was serving in the Middle East. Appellant was a married man with two young children. He claimed that to be sent overseas would be an undue hardship in that by no means all other families in this country made similar sacrifices and as far as could be gathered from the newspapers no other members of the United Nations, excepting the U.S.S.R.. made the same demands on their manpower that New Zealand did. Overseas service meant service in places very remote from New Zealand in which New Zealanders could only have a very general interest in defending or from which to. make offensives. On the ground of public interest he appealed in order to express his disapproval of the drift of the manpower policy of New Zealand. The country could not well defend itself when it had a labour shortage. The conditions under which citizens were being conscripted and sent overseas were unsatisfactory for the reasons that the men who governed the country attained their office in peace time. Some of them were immigrants, born in other countries. They had recently voted themselves a continuance of power and there could be no assurance that they would continue to represent the will of the country. There also arose the question of who would get the loot in the event of their troops regaining lost territory. For instance, for New Zealand troops assisting in regaining the Far East lands, Java, Malay States, etc., there would be less than nothing in it for New Zealand. They would lose many lives and expend much treasure and then retire while the original owners would simply take ovei’ their wealth again, wealth which they themselves could not defend. The appeal was dismissed. Other cases dealt with were: Dismissed: Clarence Richard Galyer, soldier (farmer), appeal by N. Galyer; Arthur Thomas Cook, soldier (grocer); Ernest Hugh Andrews, soldier (farm manager and butcher); Dudley Owen McKenzie, bank clerk, dismissed by request of appellant, not to be called before February 15, 1943. Adjourned sine die: William Robert Wyeth, soldier (grocer’s assistant), appeal by Charles Wyeth; Edward Douglas Carman, soldier (farm manager), appeal by E. J. Carman; Joseph Chatteris, soldier (waterfront carpenter); Frederick Young, soldier (storeman and packer); Maurice Thomas Shaw, soldier. Adjourned for more evidence: John Albert Arthur, soldier (farm hand). TODAY’S CASES GENERAL AND OVERSEAS SERVICE. The No. 2 Armed Forces Appeal Board continued its sitting in Masterton today. Appeals in respect to men called for general service were made by Messrs C. E. Daniell Ltd., for George Edward Wainscott, assistant manager, timber office; Colin Ross, joiner’s machinist, and Frank Charles Thornton, journeyman joiner. Mr E. M. Hodder, giving evidence on behalf of his firm, said its policy had been not to make appeals for any man but it had been advised by Government departments to do so to retain essential men. In view of the nature of the work the firm was doing, sine die adjournments were made in every case. “My place is in New Zealand to defend my wife, home and children,” stated Ronald George Burton, soldier (hairdresser), who added that by having three children he had done his duty to his country, especially when so many married. people had only one child. He considered ha was not fit for service in the tropics. In reply to a question by Mr J. S. Wauchop, Crown representative, appellant said that in the meantime men with less responsibilities than he had should be sent' overseas. The appeal was dismissed, the chairman stating that there was no reason why appellant should not be reboarded. Sine die adjournments were made in the following cases in respect to appeals against overseas service: Ronald Charles Tate, soldier (dairy factory engineer); Clifford Lionel William Everitt, soldier (wharf labourer); Thomas McCullock Brooks, soldier (clerk of court); Joseph Kitchen, soldier (bookbinder); Robert Samuel Cairns, soldier (farm manager). Appeal dismissed: John ' Alfred Chaney, soldier (clerk). Adjourned until next sitting: Leon- ; ard Thomas Summerell, soldier (labourer); Allan Stewart Dawson, soldier ' (civil servant).