asked the Minister of Labour whether men who have served at sea as wireless officers in the Merchant Navy and who are surplus to the pool will, on demobilisation, be called up for service in the armed forces of the country.

Yes, Sir. Wireless officers who are discharged from the Merchant Navy pool are called up under the National Service Acts if they are of the appropriate ages and medical grades. Their service in the Merchant Navy however counts as war service for the purpose of determining priority of release from the Armed Forces, after the European War.