H.—lla

Expert Advisers.—To advise the Government more particularly on technical matters and fire services, Mr. C. W. Hamann, Senior Technical Officer for Civil Defence in the Midlands Area, and Mr. A. D. Wilson, of the National Eire Service, London, were brought out from England. .Bo'tli of these gentlemen have shown a particularly keen interest in the civil defence of the Dominion and have been of great service in advising the Government and the respective emergency services. Stabilization of Personnel.—With the continued calling-up of E.P.S. personnel into the armed forces, and the provision of man-power to the Home Guard, it lias been found difficult to stabilize the strength of the male personnel of E.P.S. units. Increasing use has therefore had to be made of women, and many volunteers have been accepted. The Women's War Service Auxiliary has been instrumental in both the recruitment and training of these women. With the object of securing some stability in the personnel of the more important E.P.S. units in the larger centres, proposals were considered and approved by a conference of Regional Commissioners and District Controllers which, briefly, provided for the fixing of a minimum establishment for the six first-line units—i.e., Wardens, Eire, Medical, Works, Law and Order, and Communications. The new scheme provided for the personnel posted to these fixed establishments to receive training in general duties in addition to their own basic functions, so that reinforcement between units could readily be effected. The fixed establishments for the first-line units were required to be constituted mainly of persons who were either unfit or otherwise ineligible for military service, so that the maximum possible stability could be obtained. These establishments absorbed only a proportion of available personnel, and the remainder were posted to second-line units or to reserve. In these cases only a minimum of training in their own unit functions was required. The .total personnel in the Emergency Precautions Services is estimated at present to be 150,000, of whom approximately the following numbers have been posted to the fixed establishments of the first-line units in the more vulnerable centres : — Auckland .. .. 7,500 Hastings .. .. 750 Westport .. .. 600 Wellington .. .. 5,250 New Plymouth .. 1,200 Greymouth.. .. 700 Christchurch.. .. 3,750 Wanganui .. 1,200 Lyttelton .. .. 400 Dunedin .. .. 3,000 Palmerston North .. 1,050 Timaru .. .. 900 Whangarei .. .. 900 Masterton .. 600 Oamaru .. .. 750 Hamilton .. .. 1, 050 Lower Hutt .. 1,050 Invercargill .. 900 Tauranga .. .. 600 Petone .. .. 750 Bluff .. .. 300 Gisborne .. .. 750 Blenheim .. .. 500 Napier .. .. 1,200 Nelson .. .. 800 Whole Dominion .. 36,450 The allocation of this personnel among the various units has been fixed on the basis of: Wardens, 20 per cent. ; Law and Order, 10 per cent; Communications, 10 per cent. ; Medical, 20 per cent. ; Fire, 20 per cent. ; Works, 20 per cent. Civil Defence School of Instruction.—On the recommendation of the above-mentioned advisers it was decided to set up a Civil Defence School of Instruction where representatives of E.P. Services throughout the Dominion may be given standardized training in the various phases of emergency work. An Operational Training Officer was appointed and standard sets of instructions have been prepared. A panel of lecturers is arranged for each course and a training syllabus laid down. Arrangements have been made for representatives from all the larger centres to receive instruction at the school. As representatives pass out from the School of Instruction they return to their districts and commence the organization and training of local personnel on similar lines. The basis of the school is the " General Personnel Course " which has been laid down as the standard course of instruction in general duties for the personnel of first-line E.P.S. units. This course covora elementary training in ten subjects, designed to supplement the specialized training of personnel in their particular unit functions. A start has also been made with a series of specialist courses, and the first of these has been hold covering instruction in rescue and demolition. Further specialist courses have been arranged for the immediate future covering the functions of Wardens and Law and Order units. Training manuals are being issued by the Department covering the various phases in which general or specialized instruction has been given at the school. Proposed Re-organization of Fire Service.—After an inspection of the emergency organizations throughout the Dominion, Mr. A. D. Wilson submitted a report to the Government, recommending principally that— (i) Further equipment be provided ; and (ii) The system of reinforcement and control be extended on lines which have proved effective under air-raid conditions in Britain. The second of these proposals would have involved the over-riding to some extent of the authority of Eire Boards and local authorities, and was therefore discussed with these and other interested bodies, with the result that a modified scheme was evolved, providing for a central authority, comprising the Minister of Civil Defence advised by a national council representative of both the existing fire-controlling authorities and the Fire Services personnel. At 31st March, 1943, this scheme was still under consideration. 19. REVIEW OF MOBILIZATION AND PREPAREDNESS IN 1942 By the end of September, 1942, the mobilization of the Dominion's resources and the strengthening of her defensive organizations had reachcd a point where any attempt at large-scale invasion would have involved the enemy in a very considerable diversion of effort away from other objectives if it were to stand any real chance of success. More than 90,000 men were equipped and undergoing continuous training in the Territorial Force and other fully-mobilized units of the Army in New Zealand, and these could be reinforced at extremely short notice by a Home Guard of almost equal numerical strength, a National Military

20