GRADE 2 MEN

Wairarapa Times-Age, 22 January 1943, Page 2

GRADE 2 MEN

JO BE SENT TO ISLANDS TO CARRY OUT GARRISON DUTIES GOVERNMENT SCHEME OUTLINED (Bv Telegraph—Press Association ) CHRISTCHURCH, January 21. The Minister of Supply and Munitions, Mr Sullivan, who is in Christchurch at present, and to whom cer-. tain questions were referred, stated today that the Minister of Defence, Mr Jones, had advised him that War Cabinet has approved of grade 2 men being/ dispatched to certain Pacific islands for garrison duty. Mr Jones had stated that up to the present, only soldiers who are graded 1 and between the ages of 21 and 41 years had been sent beyond New Zealand for service in the present war, but it was considered that grade 2 men could quite well be utilised for this duty. In the particular islands to which grade 2 men would be sent for garrison duties the climate was healthy and the islands were practically free from any virulent tropical disease. Particular care would be taken that soldiers selected for this service were physically suitable. “This scheme,” said Mr Jones, “will, in addition, relieve units now in the islands, consisting of grade 1 men, who will become available to proceed to more important duties elsewhere and will implement! the general policy of conserving grade 1 men for duty which cannot be carried out by the personnel of lower medical grading.

“It will also,” said Mr Jones, “enable well-trained grade 2 men to take up important duty and relieve them from the boredom of continuous service in New Zealand on which some of them have been employed since the outbreak of war. It is anticipated, therefore, that the men selected will welcome the opportunity of serving in the islands which are regarded as important outposts in the scheme of the defence of New Zealand.” Mr Jones had stated that normally the grade 2 serving soldiers who will be dispatched will be between the ages of 21 • and 41 years, inclusive, but men in the same medical category who have passed their twentieth birthday will be given an opportunity to volunteer on submitting the written consent of both parents, or of their guardian. In addition, soldiers who have passed their forty-first' birthday and whose medical grading is either grade 1 or grade 2 may also volunteer.