Calling All National Servicemen

Around 86,000 NZ men were called up for compulsory military training (CMT) from 1950-72, and now Wellington-based historian Peter Cooke is calling them up again. He wants their opinions for the first-ever authorised history being prepared on CMT and National Service.

This history has been commissioned by the CMT/National Service Association (North City Branch) and is due for publication in 2010. "No-one has deemed compulsory military training and national service to be worthy of a detailed balanced history – until now," Cooke says. "Yet these men faced possible annihilation on an atomic battlefield – against their will! And they weren’t even allowed to join the RSA."

A questionnaire has been drawn up to learn how they felt when called up or ballotted, how their training went and whether they had any physical or psychological problems. "We also want to know," Peter Cooke said, "whether their training helped or hindered them in any way, what they got out of it and what their friends or family thought."

The Questionnaire is for anyone who went through the three-month CMT or National Service training. The Word format .DOC file can be accessed from the author at the email address: petercooke@paradise.net.nz

Peter Cooke’s previous military works include Defending New Zealand (2000), The Gunners (2008), All Formed Up (2008), and histories of the Auckland-Northland Regiment and RNZEME.

For further information Peter Cooke CMT/NS Assn (Nth City Branch)

ENDS

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