FIJIAN WORKERS

New Zealand Herald, Volume 82, Issue 25293, 29 August 1945, Page 8

FIJIAN WORKERS

AN AIRMAN'S PEAISE THE HANDLING OF CARGO "They marched to work singing, only as natives sing, equal to any male choir; they sang while they, worked, and they did work," wrote "Airman" in a letter to the editor of the Herald, describing the willing and happy way in which he had witnessed the Fiji Labour Battalion working on the wharf at Lnutoka, Suva. "Airman's" letter was in answer to Mr H. Barnes, president of the Auckland Waterside Workers' Union, who in reply to a statement by Brigadier J. G. C. Wales comparing the rates of work achieved by the Fijians and the Auckland wateraiders, said he doubted if a conscripted native working for 2s a day would take the pride in his work described by Brigadier Wales. "I clearly recall one night at Lnutoka when the ship was late berthing," continued "Airman." "The Labour Battalion, under the command of their efficient officers, marched out of the darkness on to the jetty singing. They had to wait half an hour for the ship to berth. They did not break ranks, but much to the pleasure of the troops and the ship's company they sang numerous request numbers. Those evenings spent with the Labour Battalion were bv far the brightest of all those wearv months of service in the Pacific.".. Referring to the recent occasion when a number of Auckland watersiders refused to accept work because a quantity of angle iron had been stacked near the labour bureau pn Central Wharf where they had to pick up their discs to signify acceptance of their assignments, "Airman" said that when they were standing about the natives did not seem to mind any heaps of cargo that'might have happened to have been stacked to one side. While making comparisons regarding the handling of cargo, "Airman" said he could clearly recall Mr Barnes' recent trip to Sydney and his expressed astonishment at,.the amount of cargo being handled on the Sydney wharves without the help of modern equipment, in comparison with the smaller amount of cargo being shifted at Auckland with all the modern equipment which was available. "It is a pitv Mr Barnes is allowed to stump the country agitating. In these days we need co-operation, not agitation," concluded "Airman." THE~SWISS "WAR" DEFENCE PREPARATION GREAT ALPINE STRONGHOLD Now that the great military secrets of the war are being disclosed, the story can be told of a remarkable undertaking: the Battle of Switzerland, says the London Sundav Times. It was a silent battle, a contest of wits, bluff and ingenuity, and the Swiss victory was complete. Switzerland in past wars always found itself between the Powers engaged. In such circumstances the obvious thing to do was to man the frontiers against both parties, and the modest Swiss forces were consequently assembled on the French and German frontiers when this war began. The French collapse of 1940 confronted Switzerland with an entirely new problem because from that moment, Switzerland was completely surrounded by the Axis Powers. It was impossible to defend the whole frontier (the length of which approximately equals the distance, from London to Tunis), and moreover the French campaign had shown that motorized divisions could break in at any point they chose and take the remaining Swiss forces in the rear. Swiss military policy had to be rapidly and completely changed, while maintaining its paramount aim, which is first to deter a .great Power from attacking Switzerland at all, by offering the prospect of losses in one form or another which would render conquest barren, and secondly to ensure that if there is a fight it should take place iq the best conditions for the Swiss army Defending the Tunnels It was clear that the main strategic object of an\ Axis attack would be to gain possession of the two railways, the Gotthard and the Shnplon, connecting Germany and Italy; the Brenner route, through Austria, was already seriously overstrained and vulnerable to air attack, and the alternative route through France was long and devious, Thus the Swiss Commander-in-Chief, General Guisan, hit on the idea of a Swiss Redoubt (which German propaganda afterward borrowed for South Germany). _ The decision was taken to leave only light forces, Ordered to fight to the last, it. the flatter frontier regions, and to withdraw the bulk of the Swiss army to a small, inner, mountainous zone enclosing the. two vital tunnels, which were to be blown up if Switzerland was attacked. This meant abandoning the Swiss industries (which were also prepared for destruction), the five chief towns, and the Swiss population, which was told that in case of invasion it would have to stay, and that any mass attempt to enter the Redoubt area would be forcibly prevented. Prepared for Siege Thus a formidable deterrent (the certain loss of the chief prize) was offered to the invader; the front to be defended was greatly shortenedand the Swiss chose for the battle the most favourable terrain, namely, the mountains which geographical Providence has given them. As "the Swiss factories were outside the Redoubt, stores of munitions and food had to be brought into it ami placed in huge caverns blasted in the living rock. Field hospitals were erected in the mountains, roads built for bringing; up heavy artillery, cable railways prepared to supply the outposts at K),oooft and higher, flying strips made for _ fighters, ancj so on. Swiss military training was revolutionised overnight.' The silent battle was won, Switzerland was never attacked and the Swiss authorities aj'e eagerly waiting to see whether, jimong the German military documents captured by the Allies, there are any which explain why, At the end of 1911, when the Allies were deep inside Kurope and the new danger arose that the Germans might invade Switzerland, not for conquest but to block any Allied short-cut, Switzerland partly reverted to the traditional policy and the low-lying frontiers were again manned. The Redoubt will remain a permanent feature of Swiss defensive policy in the future.