ENROLLED MEN

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21209, 4 September 1940, Page 2

ENROLLED MEN

GENERAL RESERVE CERTIFICATES MISUNDERSTOOD PURPOSE EXPLAINED (By Telegraph.—Press Association) WELLINGTON, Tuesday There seemed to be a good deal of misapprehension about the significance of the certificates of enrolment recently issued to members of the first division of the general reserve, said the Minister of National Service, the Hon. R. Semple, in a statement to-night. “Many people,” said Mr Semple, “both reservists and their employers, appear to think the certificates are either notices of calling up for service or harbingers of such action in the immediate future. They are merely acknowledgments to the reservists concerned that their registrations have been received and that their names duly appear in the register of the reserve. “No reservists can be called up until after a ballot has been held. The certificates are valuable documents, inasmuch as they are an outward and visible sign that the holders of them have fulfilled the obligation of registration laid upon them by the National Service Regulations, 1940. First division reservists who have not enrolled are liable to severe penalties, while employers are liable to the same penalties if they employ such reservists. “A number of reservists have signed their certificates and returned them to the National Service Department,” said the Minister. “This procedure is incorrect. Reservists should retain the certificates and carry them with them at all times, so that they may be produced on request for inspection by employers or other authorised persons.”