H.—l9a.

Very shortly after the outbreak of war His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom informed the New Zealand Government that they would be glad if New Zealand could provide personnel of the following classes for the Royal Navy : (i) trained Naval reserves ; (ii) yachtsmen and ex-mercantile marine officers for commissions in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve ; (iii) certain technicians and others suitable for entry as artificers, artisans, signalmen, and telegraphists. By " trained Naval reserves " was meant the members of the Royal Naval Reserve and Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, and (after satisfying the mobilization requirements of the New Zealand Naval Forces, including provision of a margin in reserve) 25 of the officers and 219 of the ratings have recently proceeded overseas after final training. The remainder, approximately 100, will be ready to follow them in a few months' time. With regard to yachtsmen for the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, the Admiralty stated after some delay that their present requirements were limited to 10. The 10 most suitable from the many hundreds of applications which have been received from time to time in Navy Office have been selected and have also left New Zealand. A gratifying number of candidates applied for entry in the technical ratings, and 56 have been selected, entered, and trained in H.M.S. " Philomel." They have also left for England. Since the outbreak of war a total of 9 officers and 118 men on loan from the Royal Navy have been relieved by New Zealand reserve personnel and have left for England to resume service in the Imperial Navy. The New Zealand Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve has provided 65 ratings as guns' crews in 25 defensively armed merchant ships. It will be remembered that the " Doric Star " was sunk by the " Admiral Graf Spee " } this was one of the ships provided with a gun and crew in New Zealand, and these three Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve ratings were amongst the " Altmark " prisoners ; they have now returned to New Zealand. So far as the New Zealand, Naval Forces are concerned the ships and services maintained are all at war strength, and unless there is any major development in the Naval defence of New Zealand the requirements of personnel are fully met by the existing active service and mobilized reserve personnel. At the same time the permanent recruiting, training, and manning policy is being continued to provide a career in the Navy for New-Zealanders. VI. FUTURE POLICY. A forward policy of Naval development has always been pursued by the Government, and is in no way being retarded by the existence of a state of war. As mentioned in Section lof this statement as an instance of this may be quoted the new training vessels, and the recruiting and manning policy referred to in Section IV is another. The naval dockyard at Devonport has been greatly expanded and re-equipped, so that major refits of cruisers are now regularly undertaken. Additional oil-tankage for Naval purposes has been built, and further developments in this direction have been approved. Approval has also recently been given for the construction of modern buildings at Devonport to replace H.M.S. " Philomel," and land has been purchased to improve the recreational facilities. The Government are ready if and when requested by H.M. Government in the United Kingdom to call for further volunteers for service in the Royal Navy, but the large draft recently despatched meets the Admiralty's requirements for the time being. It will be appreciated that the future policy of the Government as regards the Naval defence of New Zealand must depend upon the development of the situation, and that the strategic and tactical factors involved could not in the public interest be discussed on the floor of the House. In this connection, however, the Government is in close and constant touch with the authorities in London, and the position is constantly under review by the Government's Naval advisers.

PART 11.-ARMY. IMMEDIATE MEASURES ON THE OUTBREAK OP WAR. Manning Coast Defences. Immediately on the outbreak of war, measures were taken to man coast artillery and anti-aircraft defences at the three defended ports of Auckland, Wellington, and Lyttelton. The units concerned were brought up to war strength by embodiment of those already serving, and the enlistment and training of the number required for this purpose. This manning was carried out with the most satisfactory despatch. The establishment has been maintained in spite of a continual turnover of men released to join the Expeditionary Force. In this respect the Special Reservists who were trained over the twelve months prior to the outbreak of war proved most valuable and fully justified the money expended on their training in peace. Coast-watching Stations. All coast-watching stations previously decided upon were established within a few days of the outbreak of war. The personnel for these stations are found by the Navy, the Army, and the Marine Department, and in some cases by Harbour Boards. Over some portions of the coastline aerial reconnaissance is provided at regular intervals. The position is under frequent review by the appropriate committee of the Organization for National Security.

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