SOLDIERS INTO CIVILIANS

New Zealand Listener, Volume 11, Issue 269, 18 August 1944, Page 6

SOLDIERS INTO CIVILIANS

What Happened ‘To Ten Men

ae HE LISTENER" has given its readers various accounts of soldiers coming home. We have met hospital ships and described emotional scenes on the wharfsides, interviewed wounded men and given the stories of some of the heroes among those who have come home, whether on leave or for good. Most of our stories, like most novels, have ended leaving the reader to assume that they all lived happy ever after. The other day we decided to find out whether they all did. The obvious place to start tracing their stories was in the Rehabilitation Department, and from this source we obtained the case histories of 10 men. .

Three New Farmers ASE A’ is a Maori, unmarried. Before this war he was a worker in a sawmill. He went overseas — Greece, Crete, Libya. Shrapnel wounds made him unfit for further service, put one hand out of action. He was returned to New Zealand by hospital ship, and sent to the hospital at Rotorua for wounded men. His: hand could not be used, but he was given a rubber ball. He tried to grip it, struggled with the mere idea of getting his’ fingers round it, and they began to yield. The rubber ball was taken away, and he was given an axe handle. He clasped it in his hand over and over again, and exercised the muscles, swinging it round and «getting used to having two hands again. Soon he said he wanted to go farming-no more sawmills for him. He applied for employment on the Rehabilitation Department’s training farm, and was approved. He completed the course to the satisfaction of the department and was graded "A" by the farm- ww ing sub-committee. He has a job now, but is looking for a farm somewhere in his own part of the country. If he finds one that suits him, he can borrow, under the Department’s loan scheme.

(CASE B was an electrician before "~™ the war, but he had had some experience on his father’s farm. However, if it had not been for the war, he might not have been able to contemplate farming on his own account: He went overseas, served in the Middle East. Gunshot wounds brought him home again, and when the Rehabilitation Department first got in touch with him, his mind was not quite made up about his own future. He decided on farming, and was approved for a course of several months at Massey College. He went through it, and came out graded A. Then he found a farm — he was luckier than the Maori. A loan has

been approved to enable him to start out on his own account. Be ba Ea A DIFFERENT history again is that of Case C. After leaving school he was a farmhand. Then he worked in a dairy factory. He took one more step away from the land, -be¢ame an_ insurance agent. When he came "back from overseas-a married. man now — he wanted to get back to the land. He knew there was a chance for him now, and applied for training. He began

work as an employee of an approved ~dairy-farmer, der subsidy from the department. Then he left the farmer to join a course that was be- | ginning at Massey College. While he was there, he received *£4 a week, but his fees and his books were paid for, and his board was provided. His wife,

in the meantime, took on an important job-looking for a farm, She found one, without having to go very far away. Now a loan application has been approved. A Tradesman Now EFORE the war, Case D had been a farm worker, storeman, tramway employee. He was a married man. After leaving the Army, he was unwell, nervy. His war service made him the tgsponsibility of the department. A field officer called. at his home, letters and telegrams were sent. Did he require the assistance of the Rehabilitation

Department? No, ihe field officer reported to head office that this man had said he didn’t want to have anything to-do with the Rehabilitation Department or any other Government department, and would they please not send him any more letters or any more telegrams. The branch office was instructed to advise‘ the man that if he should require its assistance any time it would still be willing to help. Three months later, an application "was received for admission to a_ trade

training course-he wanted to learn carpentry, Four months after that, there was a report on his progress, with four headings for marks relating to his work, Diligence and Attendance, Intelligence, Skill with Tools and Progress. Case-D

got four "Very Goods,’ with the comment, "Making good progress in all branches," and the recommendation "Continue Course." Two months later he got one "Very Good" and three "Goods." Two months later the same, Two months later, three "Very Goods." In a few months, the report was "Likes his work. Is doing a good

job." Finally, he was classified as "A good outside finishing "and framing hand," and the latest report, some months after the man finished his, course, was that he had accepted a contract to build a house, which would take him some weeks. Opportunities-And Pluck ((ASE E is an amputee-one leg had to be taken off while he was over seas. Before the war he had acquired a taste for farming-had had five years’ experience of it. He came home with qa draft of wounded, and in due course was discussing his case with an officer of the Rehabilitation Department. He wanted a farming course, and intended to go through with it to be a farmer, in spite of his disability. The department’s officers doubted his ability. They asked him to consider his decision very carefully. With all his willingness, would he really be able to stand up to the job, with only one leg of his own? So Case E left the office and made up his mind to find some other onelegged men who were farming. He did so, and got in touch with them; he returned to the Rehabilitation Department and said he had made up his mind to go on. But then he began to learn to use the artificial leg that had been made for him. While it was being fitted, he began to reconsider his decision. A Rehabilitation officer had written in his report: "Cool, calm, deliberate spirit," but Case E had the wisdom to cast (continued on next page)

(continued from previous page) tound for another idea. He considered a professional job, and applied for permission to study for the degree of Bachelor of Agricultural Science, which would qualify him to be a technical expert. In this way he could be on the land, but he would be able to sit down and rest his leg when it needed rest. The department, before approving his course, made inquiries about the prospects in this kind of work, and ‘they were favourable. Now he is a_ student, and whether he gets where he wants to depends mainly on himself. +. eo Bg HE story of Case F is another story of pluck, in another field. This young man of 23 flew over Germany 35 times before he was discharged. When he returned to New Zealand, he realised that if he wanted to fulfil an old ambition to study medicine, he would have to. jump back several years and begin at the beginning. He was not sufficiently in touch with academic studies to plunge straight into the first year of the course, Medical Intermediate. But he had matriculated a few years before the war. So a concession was made, and he was granted his medical preliminary pass, At the age of 22 he accepted the suggestion that he should go back to a secondary school in his own district for a year, to brush up his acquaintance

with the necessary scientific and academic subjects. After 35 flights over Germany, he might have been expected to return to school with an ill grace, but Case F took his work seriously, did his physics and chemistry well. Now he is a university student, and his future depends on his own work. * ms Fa ‘THE story of Case G is the story of a man for whom the war made a career possible. His secondary education had been interrupted by the depression, and leaving school when he did, he had no hope of realising his ambition to study medicine. He had to take the best job that came. Between 1934 and the war, this man had held three positions — uninteresting, professional jobs, When he joined up, he put his name down for a medical unit, and went overseas. His interest in medicine revived, and he worked hard. Within three years he had risen to the rank of captain on the administrative side. When he returned to New Zealand, the Rehabilitation officers were impressed with him. He had left his studies behind by many years, but he was able to produce his matriculation marks. The de-

partment had no hesitation in approving a full-time bursary for him with books and fees paid for, and a living wage. His progress depends on himself, and so far the department feels it was completely justified in enabling him to do something he wanted to do 10 years ago. Into Trade-Into Difficulties DRAPER before the war, Case H decided to return to the same call‘ing when he came back. He went away with the first echelon, and was wounded in the Middle East. Case H chose a country town to establish himself in, and had suitable premises in mind. He applied to the Rehabilitation Department for a loan to begin, but another draper in the same block of buildings drew the landlord’s attention to the conditions of the lease, by which no other similar business was to be allowed in it. The department advised the man to try elsewhere. He chose another town, and this time there were no. obstacles; he found a shop, and received a loan approved by the department, and was able to report a very successful first week, But soon he was in difficultieshe could secure no further stocks, Wholesale merchants who had supplied him before the war now had their commitments to retailers in established businesses, and would not supply a new business. Difficulties mounted up, and

he came to Wellington to discuss his case with the deparfment, whose officers realised that this man’s experience could be of value to any others who _ contemplated similar ventures. The man got in touch with the Customs Department, and asked for import licences. His applications were declined, so the Rehabilitation Department supported him, and asked that his application should receive special consideration. But the control authority regrets that his application cannot, be granted; and that, in the meantime, is that. * * -* RAPERS are not the only ones who land in difficulties not of their own making.

Case J decided to take over a milk run in a small residential district. He'had early difficulties, and in the beginning was not receiving a living wage: A loan was authorised, and in effect, this milkman’s business was reorganised and assisted until he was on his feet. again, Es Ea * ASE K had better luck. He chose a bakery business in a city area, and set up his business with a Rehabilitation loan. He also had a housing loan for his home. A quantity of petrol was allowed for the operation of the business, but in one week he had used up the whole of the first month’s allotment. He applied for more, and was refused. He told the Rehabilitation officers what had happened, and it was clear that he could not succeed unless something drastic was done. The department made contact with the appropriate oil fuel controller, who agreed to put an inspector on the van, and as much petrol as could be justified by the deliveries would then be allowed. After four weeks, the increase was granted, and the business carries on. More important is that the man can now be considered "rehabilitated."